FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Temporary Employment

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what amount his Department spent on interim staff as defined by the National Audit Office in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent (a) £6,731,574 on interim staff in the financial year (FY) 2010-11 and (b) £4,876,632 on interim staff in the FY 2011-12.
	These figures are for spend in the UK only. To obtain the figures for all of our 200 plus posts would involve trawling posts for this information and would incur disproportionate cost.

World War II: Military Decorations

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer from the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport of 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 841, whether he plans to allow veterans of the Arctic Convoys to receive the Russian Ushakov medal as well as awarding a British honour.

Mark Simmonds: The current British rules on the acceptance of foreign awards state that permission will not be given for UK citizens to accept a foreign award if they have received, or are expected to receive, a UK award for the same services (double medalling).
	The double medalling rule was a factor in the original decision not to give permission for the Ushakov medal to be accepted because service on the Arctic Convoys was included in the eligibility criteria for the Atlantic Star. With the Prime Minister’s announcement of a specific British medal for veterans of the Arctic Convoys, the double medalling consideration becomes even more relevant. Under current rules, permission cannot be given for veterans to accept the Ushakov medal for the same service.
	However, as you may be aware, the Government has asked Sir John Holmes to review the rules on the acceptance of foreign awards including the double medalling rule. As Sir John is already carrying out this work, it is right that we should await the outcome of his work.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Equal Pay: Local Government

Guy Opperman: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps the Government is able to take to expedite the resolution of those equal pay claims by women employed by local authorities in the north-east which have not yet reached court.

Jo Swinson: This Government remains fully committed to equality and to equal pay in every work force. However, local authorities are independent employers in their own right and the Government has no role in the way they manage their work forces, including how they exercise their responsibilities in relation to equal pay. The Local Government Association, as the representative body of local authorities, has produced guidance for local authorities undertaking equal pay reviews.
	In announcing the Provisional Local Government Settlement (on 19 December 2012), the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the right hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles) confirmed that he would be taking steps to enable authorities to use capital receipts from asset sales raised from 2012-13, for equal pay costs.

TRANSPORT

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has had discussions with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Network Rail over the potential use of ducts and land owned by those bodies as a platform for fibre access to support the provision of broadband across the UK.

Simon Burns: The Departments have discussed this issue with Network Rail. There is a recognition by all parties that access to Network Rail ducts and land could potentially enable improved broadband services across the UK. We look to Network Rail to propose an approach that does not negatively impact rail operations or safety.
	We will continue to work together to enable a positive way forward.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Serious Fraud Office

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Attorney-General what steps he plans to take to address issues identified in the report by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate on the Serious Fraud Office published in November 2012.

Dominic Grieve: The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has accepted all the recommendations made by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in its report.
	An action plan has been devised in response to the recommendations and work has already begun to make the necessary improvements.
	The Director has invited the Inspectorate to return in 2014 to evaluate progress and inspect again.
	In addition I have said that I would like the inspection of the SFO to be put on a statutory footing and this will be done as soon as parliamentary time allows.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Leader of the House which events at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were attended by each Minister in his office using tickets or passes for which they did not pay personally; and what the cost was of attending each such event for members of the public who used comparable seats or had comparable access.

Andrew Lansley: The Government pledged to publish these details following the Olympic and Paralympic games and will do so shortly.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Arms Trade: Israel

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he took to ensure that in issuing arms export licences to Israel, notably those categorised as ML1, ML3, ML4 and ML10, weapons could not be used for internal repression; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 7 January 2013
	All export licences for military goods are assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. An export licence will not be issued if the decision is not consistent with the criteria. Assessments of export licence applications for military goods to Israel will take account of the continuing tensions over Gaza.
	The following criteria are relevant:
	Criterion 2
	The respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination. A licence will not be issued if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression;
	Criterion 3
	The internal situation in the country of final destination, as a function of the existence of tensions or armed conflicts. The Government will not issue export licences for exports which would provoke or prolong armed conflicts or aggravate existing tensions or conflicts in the country of final destination;
	Criterion 4
	Preservation of regional peace, security and stability. The Government will not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the intended recipient would use the proposed export aggressively against another country, or to assert by force a territorial claim.

Business: Advisory Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received on the success of the Mentorsme website.

Michael Fallon: The information is as follows:
	mentorsme.co.uk, the national mentoring portal, which is funded and operated by the British Bankers Association (BBA), now provides a single point of access to over 114 mentoring organisations—more than double the number we started with in July 2012. This is good progress progress and we continue to work closely with the BBA to expand and develop the site further.
	According to research published by this Department in September 2012, almost two-thirds of mentoring providers registered on the site would recommend that others do so and the large majority of organisations listed on the site have seen demand increase.
	A number of parliamentary questions have been answered regarding the success of the site, including four
	(1)
	from the hon. Member. I have received some other representations on the success of the mentorsme website including positive words welcoming the initiative.
	Working with the mentoring community, the BBA have identified and are making a number of enhancements to mentorsme.co.uk in order to improve the customer experience and enable the site to be a key channel for the promotion of mentoring. The new refreshed version of the site will be launched at the end of January 2013.
	(1 )PQ 81007, 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 159W
	PQs 81008 and 81009, 22 November 2011, Official Report, columns 330-31W
	PQ 135349, being answered today

Business: Advisory Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the success of the Mentorsme website; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: mentorsme.co.uk, the national mentoring portal, which is funded and operated by the British Bankers Association (BBA), has expanded dramatically over the last year. The site now provides a single point of access to over 114 mentoring organisations—more than double the number we started with in July 2012. This is good progress and we continue to work closely with the BBA to expand and develop the site further as the single point of access to mentoring provision across the UK.
	Over 200 people visit the site every day. Latest data from the BBA's Finance Monitor indicates that 23% of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) population are aware of the national mentoring network.

Business: Government Assistance

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many firms are participating in his Growth Accelerator programme.

Michael Fallon: As of 2 January 2013, 2,339 companies are already on the programme and a further 2,382 businesses have applied to join.

Business: Government Assistance

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much he has budgeted to be spent on the Growth Accelerator scheme in each year from 2012-13 to 2014-15.

Michael Fallon: The budget for Growth Accelerator in each year from 2012-13 to 2014-15 is set out in the following table. This includes funding for the Leadership and Management Advisory Service which is now delivered through Growth Accelerator:
	
		
			  Budget (£) 
			 2012-13 38,582,284 
			 2013-14 70,725,828 
			 2014-15 70,102,755

Business: Government Assistance

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much he has spent on the Growth Accelerator scheme in each month of 2012-13 to date.

Michael Fallon: The expenditure on Growth Accelerator in each month of 2012-13 to end November 2012 is shown in the following table. This includes funding to establish the scheme initially in the period before it was formally launched in May 2012.
	
		
			 2012 £ 
			 January 0 
			 February 1,996,407.00 
			 March 2,838,203.00 
			 April 2,877,545.00 
			 May 2,877,711.57 
			 June 2,877,711.57 
			 July 2,658,338.88 
			 August 2,658,338.88 
			 September 2,658,338.88 
			 October 3,390,104.24 
			 November 3,390,183.40

Export Credit Guarantees: Grenada

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the amount of Grenada's debt to UK Export Finance is.

Michael Fallon: As at 30 November 2012 the amount of Grenada's outstanding debt to UK Export Finance was GBP 1,783,141.

Export Credit Guarantees: Grenada

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much of the debt owed by Grenada to UK Export Finance relates to airport projects; when such loans were made; and to which bodies they were made.

Michael Fallon: In November 2012, UK Export Finance, formally the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), published information, available in the Libraries of the House, about sovereign debts due to ECGD. Paragraph 10 of the explanatory note sets out that, due to the age and incomplete nature of some of the records, judgement has to be made in some instances as to the precise nature of the goods and services.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I am giving to parliamentary question 134579 today for the amount of Grenada's debt outstanding as at end November 2012. This debt has been rescheduled at the Paris Club and it is not possible to disaggregate the value of the current outstanding debt between the original contracts. However, the original debt of £891,255 (61% in terms of value) attributable to airport projects related to an airport project that was guaranteed by ECGD in 1982. The buyer was the Ministry of Finance, Government of Grenada.

Export Credit Guarantees: Iraq

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish a list of the specific exports of vehicle spare parts to Iraq that led to sovereign debt from that country being owed to UK Export Finance; what vehicles such spare parts were used for; when those exports were made; and who the customer was in each case.

Michael Fallon: The available information is set out as follows.
	
		
			 Spare parts Date contract performed Buyer 
			 Dennis Trucks 1988 General Automobile Trading Company 
			 Mobile Cranes 1989 State Machinery Trading Company 
			 Engine Spares 1988, 1989 Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform 
			 Agricultural Tractor Spares (balancer units and piston ring sets) 1989 General Automobile and Machinery Trading Company 
			 Vehicle Components 1989 Baghdad Sewerage Board 
			 Vehicle Parts (clutch plates, gear trains, drive belts and fuel pumps) for Leyland Trucks 1989, 1990 State Establishment for Passenger Services 
			 Vehicle Parts Two contracts performed in 1989 State Establishment for Passenger Services 
			 Car Tyres (various sizes) 1988, 1989 State Company for Iraqi Trading 
			 Vehicle Spare Parts, (exhaust valve, starter motor, oil pump crankshaft, distributor, alternator, calliper, rear jump hose, tailgate and glass, gearbox, rear axle and front shock kit) Two contracts performed in 1998 and 1999 Ministry of Defence

Export Credit Guarantees: Kenya

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which exports account for the proportion of Kenya's sovereign debt owed to UK Export Finance relating to the power sector.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 7 January 2013
	UK Export Finance, formally the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) recently placed information in the Libraries of the House, about sovereign debts due to ECGD. Paragraph 10 of the explanatory note accompanying that information sets out that, due to the age and incomplete nature of some of the records, judgment had to be made in some instances as to the precise nature of the goods and services that were supplied.
	Further detailed examination of the relevant files show that in fact 12%, in terms of value, of the original sovereign debt owed to ECGD related to the power sector. The exports were for consultancy services for a hydro electric power project, the design, supply, erection and commissioning of a cable form factory and associated goods and services, and the design and construction of a hydro-electric dam.

Export Credit Guarantees: Zimbabwe

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of Zimbabwe's sovereign debt currently owed to UK Export Finance was accrued through the export of oil pipelines; what the location is of such pipelines; what exports are the source of such debt; whether the exports were to government or private companies; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: UK Export Finance, formally the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), recently placed information in the Libraries of the House, about sovereign debts due to ECGD. Paragraph 10 of the explanatory note accompanying that information sets out that, due to the age and incomplete nature of some of the records, judgment had to be made in some instances as to the precise nature of the goods and services that were supplied.
	Further detailed examination of the relevant files show that about 1%, in terms of value, of the original sovereign debt owed to UK Export Finance was accrued through the export of oil pipelines. This relates to the supply of goods and services for the design, survey, construction and commissioning of an oil pipeline from Feruka to Harare and associated facilities. The buyer/borrower was Petrozim Line (Private) Ltd, a private company. A third party guarantee of payment was given by the Government of Zimbabwe.

Green Investment Bank

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Autumn Statement 2012, what discussions he has held with (a) the chairman of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) and (b) prospective borrowers from the GIB on the implications for GIB's ability to borrow from 2015.

Michael Fallon: The Government are fully committed to providing the UK Green Investment Bank (UK GIB) with the funding it needs to be an enduring and effective financial institution. With £3 billion to 2015, the UK GIB is being amply funded so that it will not need to borrow in the short to medium term. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has had discussions with Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chairman of UK GIB, about the Bank's future ability to borrow. As set out during second reading of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill in the House of Lords, Lord Smith's focus is on building a well run organisation with a good track record worthy of the injection of more capital or borrowing money in capital markets.

Manufacturing Industries: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the balance of industries within the West Midlands.

Michael Fallon: BIS publish annual National Statistics estimating the total number of private sector businesses in the UK in the publication 'Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions'.
	Information on the number of private sector businesses in the West Midlands at the start of 2012 by broad industry group is available in Table 15 of the detailed data tables that accompany this publication—see:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/16402/bpe_2012_data.xls

Met Office

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value was of the commercial products and services provided by the Met Office to UK companies engaged in (a) on- and off-shore wind energy and (b) other energy generation in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: I have asked the chief executive officer of the Met Office to respond directly to the hon. Member.
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 3 January 2013
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 18 December 2012, UIN 134946 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Met Office works with energy companies within the UK and internationally in both the planning and management of their assets and capacity management. The details requested are commercially sensitive but in total this business accounts for around only 1.5% of the Met Office's income.

Natural Gas: Exploration

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish all correspondence and minutes relating to meetings between (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department and (i) Cuadrilla and (ii) any other fracking or shale gas company.

Michael Fallon: There are no plans to publish such correspondence and minutes.

Redundancy

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many Civil Service posts have been made redundant by his Department in each year since 1999; and what has been the cost of redundancies in each such year.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created on 5 June 2009 via a merger of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) which both ceased to exist from that date. Data on the number and cost of redundancies and voluntary paid exits have been provided from this date.
	
		
			  Number of redundancies Number of voluntary paid exits Total cost of exits (£) 
			 2009-10 0 21 3,195,578 
			 2010-11 0 330 26,552,976 
			 2011-12 254 0 15,529,155 
			 2012-13 5 2 154,653

TREASURY

Broadband

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the range of estimates made by his Department was for the revenue from the sale of the 4G spectrum.

Danny Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) on 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 558W.

Gift Aid

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps he has taken to modernise and promote (a) Gift Aid and (b) payroll giving.

Sajid Javid: The Government has introduced a number of measures to modernise and promote Gift Aid. The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme will be introduced in April 2013 which will enable qualifying charities to claim top-up payments equivalent to Gift Aid on small cash donations of up to £5,000 each year without requiring the donor to provide a Gift Aid declaration. The scheme is expected to increase the amounts received by charities by around £100 million by 2015.
	HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is introducing a new online system for making Gift Aid claims from April 2013. This will make it faster and easier for charities to claim repayments of tax under Gift Aid and top-up payments under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.
	In addition, just recently HMRC announced changes which will lift the administrative burdens for charities claiming Gift Aid on the proceeds of donors' goods sold in charity shops. Currently charities have to write to the donor before the charity can claim Gift Aid on the proceeds from each sale. The changes will make Gift Aid simpler and less costly for charity shops, as a letter will be required only when proceeds exceed an agreed amount of either £100 or £1,000.
	The Chancellor announced in the autumn statement that an examination will be carried out to identify ways to improve the administration of Gift Aid to reflect new ways of giving money to charity, in particular digital giving.
	A public consultation will be held on Payroll Giving in the coming weeks. This will seek to raise the levels of payroll giving by improving and modernising the process. The consultation document will be published jointly by the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and HMRC.

Public Expenditure

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of his decision in the autumn statement to underspend in 2012-13 through reduced reserves on Government Departments.

Danny Alexander: Decisions on forecast departmental underspends are made by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Taxation: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) national insurance and (b) income tax was paid by non-UK EU nationals living in Preston constituency in tax year 2011-12.

David Gauke: The information is available only at disproportionate cost.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Gregory Barker: The information requested is not held centrally and is currently being compiled. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon the information is available and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Redundancy

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many civil service posts have been made redundant by his Department in each year since 1999; and what the cost of redundancies has been in each such year.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008. Therefore there is no data prior to that date.
	DECC is one of the smallest Departments in Whitehall (less than 1,700 staff) and has not made any of its civil servants redundant since its inception and has therefore not incurred any such costs.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which events at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were attended by each Minister in her Department using tickets or passes for which they did not pay personally; and what the cost was of attending each such event for members of the public who used comparable seats or had comparable access.

Alan Duncan: The Government pledged to publish these details following the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will do so shortly.

CABINET OFFICE

Charitable Donations

John Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made in the change in public donations to UK registered charities in each of the last seven years.

Nick Hurd: The National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) publishes data from charity accounts on the level of income received by UK charities from individuals:
	http://data.ncvo-vol.org.uk
	Data are available up until 2009-10 and show levels of donations have been increasing year-on-year over the last decade:
	
		
			  £ billion 
			 2009-10 14.3 
			 2008-09 14.1 
			 2007-08 14.0 
			 2006-07 14.0 
			 2005-06 13.3 
			 2004-05 12.3 
			 2003-04 12.3

Civil Servants: Recruitment

Kate Green: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what consideration he has given to whether the policy of advertising all civil service jobs as available on a full-time, part-time or flexible working basis should be extended to all public sector jobs.

Francis Maude: It is for responsible authorities in the wider public sector to consider whether advertising jobs in this way is appropriate.

Electronic Government

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which organisations are allowed to advertise jobs on gov.uk.

Nick Hurd: All jobs currently advertised on GOV.UK are through the Universal Job Match, which is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions:
	www.gov.uk/jobs-jobsearch

Flexible Working

Kate Green: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department meets the Government's aspiration for the civil service to be an exemplar in flexible working practices when carrying out reviews of terms and conditions of employment;
	(2)  with reference to the conclusion in the response from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to the Modern Workplaces consultation that flexible working increases productivity and commitment, improves retention and widens the talent pool so that employers are able to recruit people with more skills, whether he plans to review flexible working policies in the civil service.

Francis Maude: Departments are currently conducting a review of their terms and conditions of employment in line with the commitment made in the Civil Service Reform Plan.

Redundancy

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many civil service posts have been made redundant by his Department in each year since 1999; and what has been the cost of redundancies in each such year;
	(2)  how many posts have been declared redundant by each of his Department's executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999; and what has been the cost of those redundancies in each such year.

Francis Maude: Information on redundancies and other paid departures in the Cabinet Office are published each year in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. Copies of these documents for the years 1998 to 2007 are available from the National Archives website at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100416132449/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/about_the_cabinet_office/reports.aspx
	More recent copies of the annual report and accounts are available on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts
	The Government Procurement Service is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office and its annual report and accounts are available at:
	http://gps.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/about-government-procurement-service/annual-report-and-accounts
	Other bodies that have been agencies of the Cabinet Office in the past include the Central Office of Information, the National School of Government, Commission for the Compact, and CapacityBuilders. Copies of their annual report and accounts are available from:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/

WORK AND PENSIONS

Back Pain

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information and resources his Department provides to employers to support people diagnosed with lower back pain to remain in work.

Mark Hoban: We are committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders such as employers to support people with health conditions including back pain to remain in work.
	The health, work and wellbeing pages on the DWP website provide information and guidance for a range of groups including employers. This includes promoting best practice and sharing success stories from a wide range of organisations that have helped their staff manage musculoskeletal conditions.
	We also fund the national occupational health advice service pilots for small businesses. These provide employers and employees in small and medium sized businesses with access to high quality, professional occupational health advice in response to help employers support employee issues with health problems including back pain.
	People who are off work sick for longer than seven calendar days with problems like back pain need to provide fit notes from their doctor. My Department has developed guidance for employers on using fit notes, which is available on our website and will be revised shortly.
	Finally, our Access to Work programme provides practical and financial support to disabled people and those with physical or mental health conditions—such as back pain—who are in employment or self-employed, to help them overcome barriers to starting or keeping a job. Access to Work helps employers retain an employee who develops a long term health condition, keeping valuable skills and saving both time and money recruiting a replacement.

Conditions of Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of staff in his Department requested (a) part-time, (b) job-share or (c) other flexible working arrangements in each of the last five years; and how many such requests were granted.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not held centrally on the personnel computer system, and to provide this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Council Tax Benefits

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households that receive council tax benefit have (a) one child, (b) two children, (c) three children, (d) four children, (e) five children, (f) six children, (g) seven children and (h) eight or more children.

Steve Webb: The requested information is in the following table:
	
		
			 Council tax benefit recipients by number of child dependants—August 2012 
			 Number of child dependants Caseload 
			 1 787,040 
			 2 555,690 
			 3 259,920 
			 4 94,990 
			 5 30,240 
			 6 9,600 
			 7 3,240 
			 8 or more 1,720 
			 Notes: 1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 3. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data is available monthly from November 2008 and August 2012 is the most recent available. 4. Caseload: Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 5. Number of child dependants: Only count child dependants resident in the household on the extract date who are less than 20 years old. 6. Figures in this table may be affected by the introduction of new tax credits in April 2003. Source: Single housing benefit extract (SHBE)

Employment and Support Allowance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what monitoring has taken place of the provision of information and advice to employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants by staff of his Department concerning ESA regulations 29 and 35 relating to exceptional circumstances;
	(2)  how many claimants of employment and support allowance (ESA) have sought exception in their claim under ESA regulations 29 and 35 relating to exceptional circumstances; and how many such claimants have been successful in seeking exception.

Mark Hoban: The DWP regularly undertakes monitoring in connection with our services and activities but does not specifically monitor information and advice provided by DWP staff to employment and support allowance claimants concerning regulations 29 and 35 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008. Guidance for DWP staff who provide information and advice to claimants is regularly reviewed.
	We do not collect data on whether claimants have sought exception under these regulations. The Department regularly publishes official statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA) and the work capability assessment (WCA). The latest report was published in October 2012 and can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca
	Table 6 of the supplementary tables details reasons for placement into the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). The column referring to ‘Medical Reasons’ includes ESA claimants placed into the WRAG on the basis of regulation 29. Note that the category ‘Medical Reasons’ also includes some other reasons for assignment and assignments on the basis of regulation 29 only cannot be separated out.
	Table 5 of the supplementary tables details reasons for placement into the Support Group (SG). The columns for ‘Chemotherapy’, ‘Physical or mental health risk’, ‘Pregnancy risk’, and ‘Terminally ill’ include all claimants being placed into the SG on the basis of regulation 35.

Employment and Support Allowance

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of claims for employment and support allowance were unsuccessful in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The Department regularly publishes of official statistics on the outcomes of claims for employment and support allowance (USA) and the work capability assessment (WCA). The latest report was published in October 2012 and can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca

Employment and Support Allowance

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what medical reasons can be cited in claims for payment of employment and support allowance; and how many people have made a claim for employment and support allowance for each such medical reason in each of the last four years.

Mark Hoban: Entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) is based on functional impairment rather than being limited to particular medical conditions. ESA on flows data by primary medical condition (based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10(th) Revision, published by the World Health Organisation) are available from the Department's tabulation tool, which can found at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool

Farms: Safety

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the implications of (a) poor mobile telephone coverage and (b) poor broadband access for health and safety on farms; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: HSE has not carried out any specific assessment of poor mobile telephone coverage and/or poor broadband access for health and safety on farms. None the less, HSE recognises the implications and supports efforts to promote mobile phone availability and coverage to facilitate swift and efficient emergency responses in the event of an accident in remote rural areas.

Housing Benefit

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of recently announced changes to levels of housing benefit on the long-term viability of sheltered housing.

Steve Webb: We have made no assessment of the long term viability of sheltered housing. The housing benefit rules and levels of housing benefit payable for those living in sheltered housing remain unchanged.

Housing Benefit

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which areas will be exempt from the one per cent increase in local housing allowance in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and if he will place a copy of the criteria used to choose these areas in the Library.

Steve Webb: In 2014-15 and 2015-16, increases to local housing allowance rates will be capped at 1%, in line with increases in other benefits. We have set aside 30% of the forecasts savings from this measure—£45 million in 2014-15 and £95 million in 2015-16 to target further help on people most affected.
	Our intention is that this funding will be used to increase the local housing allowance rates by more than 1% in areas where rent increases are causing a shortage of affordable accommodation.
	This funding will be available from 2014-15 and we will consider how it is targeted using available evidence, including annual market data collected by independent rent officers, to ensure that the funding is targeted in a transparent and objective way.
	Final details of the 2014-15 arrangements will be made available in autumn 2013, both to enable us to consider the latest evidence and also to give claimants and landlords time to plan.

Immigration

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the additional cost of the delivery of those public services for which his Department is responsible arising from inward migration since 1997.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not routinely produce estimates of this nature. To do so would require the Department to incur disproportionate cost.

Industrial Health and Safety

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of compliance in the UK with EU regulations in relation to the maximum 24 hour exposure to hand-arm vibration for workers in the construction industry.

Mark Hoban: The prevention and control of hand-arm vibration is one of the many construction workplace health risks that are considered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) construction inspectors when carrying out interventions. HSE is currently in dialogue with industry on the practical implementation of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, as part of the EU's review of health and safety directives, to obtain their views relating to compliance in respect of hand-arm vibration.

Industrial Health and Safety

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with employer organisations and employee representatives in relation to the effect on employee health of hand-arm vibration.

Mark Hoban: The Health and Safety Executive attends industry-led quarterly partnership meetings, where the effect of hand-arm vibration is discussed as part of wider discussions on employee health with employer organisations and employee representatives. The partnership encourages the sharing of good control and management practices, and aims to bring about improved employee health through changed attitudes and behaviours towards hand-arm vibration in the workplace.

Internet

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has made a further assessment on whether the unused IPv4 addresses it holds have material value that could be realised.

Mark Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions is continuing to seek legal advice to evaluate whether it has the right of ownership of its spare IPv4 addresses and will take the necessary steps to act on that advice.

Jobcentre Plus

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 142W, on Jobcentre Plus, how many and what proportion of those staff in the Operations structure are employed in face-to-face services.

Mark Hoban: Within the Operations structure the majority of people that deliver face-to-face services are based within the Jobcentre network. As at September 2012, there were 38,316 people delivering these face-to-face services, which is 47.92% of the total number of people provided in the answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 142W.
	The number quoted for delivering face-to-face services will also include people in direct managerial and support roles of those people delivering services. There are also large numbers of other people within the DWP Operations structure that provide services through telephony and on-line options and they are not included in the number quoted as providing the face-to-face service.

Long Term Unemployed People: Mental Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the influence of long-term unemployment on individual mental health and well-being.

Mark Hoban: There is a body of evidence which shows that unemployment is associated with poorer mental health and well-being. Work can be therapeutic and can lead to improvements in self-esteem and mental health and well-being.
	We recently published the National Study of Work-search and Wellbeing, a large-scale study on the extent of mental health conditions among claimants of jobseeker's allowance. This showed that more than one in five people who claimed Jobseeker's Allowance for about six months had a common mental health condition compared with one in six of those who flowed off jobseeker's allowance before six months. Evidence published as part of the study also shows that the chance of having a common mental health condition increased with the number of years out of work. These findings are supportive of wider research on the association of unemployment with mental health, including reviews of academic literature.
	We recognise the study's findings that entering employment can support recovery and offer specialist support to claimants with mental health problems through disability employment advisers. Additionally, Mental Health and Well-being Partnership Managers support our Jobcentre Plus staff by improving and facilitating links between local mental health and employment services, identifying the availability of local support that advisers may signpost claimants to and by providing a support role through team meetings and awareness sessions.
	We have also introduced the Work programme, which is designed to help people who are at risk of becoming long term unemployed. The Work programme is currently supporting 837,000 participants, and is expected to support 3.3 million over the life time of the contract.
	We also have specialist disability employment programmes, such as Access to Work and Work Choice, which aim to identify and meet the needs of disabled people, including those with mental health conditions.

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which events at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were attended by each Minister in his Department using tickets or passes for which they did not pay personally; and what the cost was of attending each such event for members of the public who used comparable seats or had comparable access.

Mark Hoban: The Government pledged to publish these details following the Olympic and Paralympic games and will do so shortly.

Remploy

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons Remploy factory sites that were earmarked for sale have not yet been sold.

Esther McVey: All stage 1 businesses were put up for sale. We also provided funding to support employee-led bids. For some businesses, no interest was received, reflecting the commercial standing and nature of the businesses. I understand from Remploy that in some instances where initial interest was received from bidders, no final offers were submitted by bidders. In some instances bids were rejected because they did not meet published criteria, including on retaining the employment of disabled employees, sustainability of employment or value for money and in some cases bidders withdrew from the process.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 12 November 2012, Official Report, columns 87-8W, on sick leave, what assessment he has made of the difference in the proportion of working days lost due to ill health between officers at A/AA grade and at SCS grade; and what assessment he has made of the use of mindfulness-based therapies in reducing the proportion of working days lost in his Department.

Mark Hoban: Higher absence levels are recorded for junior grades in DWP this is common across both the public and private sectors.
	DWP has a range of interventions in place to help reduce sickness absence and increase the health, wellbeing and resilience of its work force irrespective of grade.
	Within DWP assessment is made of mindfulness-based therapies through the monitoring and evaluation of the Department's Employee Assistance Programme which provides such therapies as part of its counselling support service.

State Retirement Pensions

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what reciprocal agreements need to be agreed with the government of Namibia so that UK citizens living in Namibia who conduct financial arrangements in the UK at their own expense, pay income tax in the UK and pay for money transfers from the UK to Namibia requiring no input from the government of Namibia receive the cost of living increase to their state pension.

Mark Hoban: The increasing cost of unfreezing pensions has meant that no commitments have been made to enter into any new reciprocal agreements since 1981.
	The Government has no plans to enter into discussions on annual pension increases with countries where those increases are not currently payable. There are no plans to change the current arrangements for pensions paid overseas.

Temporary Employment

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what amount his Department spent on interim staff as defined by the National Audit Office in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The amount spent by the Department for Work and Pensions on interim staff as defined by the National Audit Office in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 20.11-12 was:
	(a) 2010-11: £26,012,567
	(b) 2011-12: £12,298,427
	This represents a considerable reduction against the spend of £52,623,645 on interim personnel in 2009-10.

Unemployment

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many (a) job vacancies and (b) jobseekers there were in each (i) parliamentary constituency, (ii) ward, (iii) lower layer super output area and (iv) Jobcentre Plus district on 1 April in each year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many jobseekers there were in each (a) parliamentary constituency (b) ward, (c) lower layer super output area and (d) Jobcentre Plus district on 1 October 2012.

Mark Hoban: The available information will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Universal Credit

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his Department's announcement of 10 December 2012, on universal credit, how much universal credit will be received by (a) a single person aged over 25 years with no children who earns £217 per week and has no other income or savings, (b) a couple aged over 25 years with no children, one of whom earns £217 per week and who both have no other income or savings, (c) a lone parent (aged under 25 years with one child) who earns £217 per week and has no other income or savings, (d) a lone parent (aged over 25 years with one child) who earns £217 per week and has no other income or savings, (e) a couple (aged under 25 years with one child), one of whom earns £217 per week and who both have no other income or savings and (f) a couple (aged over 25 years with one child), one of whom earns £217 per week and who both have no other income or savings.

Mark Hoban: The level of a household's universal credit award is determined by their personal circumstances and is made up of a standard allowance and potentially five elements, one of which is an element for housing. The information requested is in the following table; for each household type requested a typical monthly universal credit award is shown for (i) where the household has no housing costs, and (ii) where the household has rent of £435 per month (£100 per week).
	
		
			 Monthly UC award (£) (i) No housing costs (£) (ii) £435 rent per month 
			 (a) 0 249 
			 (b) 0 426 
			 (c) 426 555 
			 (d) 491 620 
			 (e) 438 669 
			 (f) 540 770 
		
	
	UC will be paid on a monthly basis and therefore amounts are monthly and are presented in 2013/14 prices.

Universal Credit

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support he will make available to local authorities participating in the universal credit pathfinder to enable them to provide budgeting and money management advice to claimants moving from weekly to monthly benefit payments.

Mark Hoban: The Universal Credit programme is currently working with local authorities in the pathfinder area to develop a process that will provide the necessary personal budgeting support to universal credit claimants.

Universal Credit

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has put in place to monitor the potential effects on homelessness and crime of the introduction of universal credit in those local authority areas which are pathfinder areas.

Mark Hoban: Universal Credit Pathfinder is about ensuring we learn lessons before universal credit is rolled out nationally. As part of our learning, we will be undertaking research with:
	DWP Staff;
	claimants;
	local authorities; and
	the local welfare advice sector to help understand the effects of universal credit in the pathfinder areas.

Vacancies

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time vacancies were advertised in Jobcentre Plus in (i) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (ii) Suffolk and (iii) the UK in each quarter in each of the last three years.

Mark Hoban: The following tables contain number of (a) full-time and (b) part-time vacancies were advertised in Jobcentre Plus in (i) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (ii) Suffolk and (iii) the GB in each quarter since 2009.
	
		
			 Vacancies advertised in Jobcentre Plus 
			 Full-time vacancies 
			  Bury St Edmunds Suffolk GB 
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 
			  Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec 
			 2009 831 978 1,302 1,137 4,575 5,619 7,478 6,689 475,191 534,700 641,539 698,928 
			 2010 1,241 1,264 944 1,531 7,229 7,816 5,505 7,846 585,104 741,275 534,726 773,032 
			 2011 1,498 1,427 1,667 1,649 7,359 7,794 9,012 8,220 602,486 678,325 790,811 857,410 
			 2012 1,419 1,774 1,715 — 7,528 8,488 10,269 — 673,274 917,100 1,054,035 — 
		
	
	
		
			 Part - time vacancies 
			  Bury St Edmunds Suffolk GB 
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 
			  Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec 
			 2009 628 492 527 649 2,488 2,373 4,085 3,506 187,587 230,698 258,864 285,934 
			 2010 566 628 1,092 738 2,744 3,473 2,748 3,973 219,630 268,465 171,520 322,801 
			 2011 707 754 710 827 2,869 3,498 3,363 4,046 218,155 242,286 264,955 305,154 
			 2012 589 683 1,124 — 3,246 4,213 4,595 — 283,200 340,178 311,824 — 
			 Note: September 2010 figures are not available due to a technical issue of NOMIS data.

Vacancies

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time vacancies were advertised in Jobcentre Plus in (i) Hastings and Rye constituency, (ii) East Sussex and (iii) the UK in each quarter of the last three years.

Mark Hoban: The following tables contain number of (a) full-time and (b) part-time vacancies were advertised in Jobcentre Plus in (i) Hastings and Rye constituency, (ii) East Sussex and (iii) the GB in each quarter since 2009.
	
		
			 Vacancies advertised in Jobcentre Plus 
			 Full-time vacancies 
			  Hastings and Rye East Sussex GB 
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 
			  Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec 
			 2009 769 566 690 792 2,185 2,222 2,772 2,862 475,191 534,700 641,539 698,928 
			 2010 756 1,305 548 1,112 2,578 3,888 2,661 4,012 585,104 741,275 534,726 773,032 
			 2011 722 863 832 1,205 2,617 3,368 3,667 3,759 602,486 678,325 790,811 857,410 
			 2012 775 889 923 — 3,280 3,779 4,310 — 673,274 917,100 1,054,035 — 
		
	
	
		
			 Part -time vacancies 
			  Hastings and Rye East Sussex GB 
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 
			  Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec 
			 2009 314 488 429 428 932- 1,603 1,837 1,659 187,587 230,698 258,864 285,934 
			 2010 913 360 628 668 1,801 1,433 1,394 2,146 219,630 268,465 171,520 322,801 
			 2011 665 237 324 404 1,576 1,268 1,567 1,890 218,155 242,286 264,955 305,154 
			 2012 222 512 312 — 1,265 2,970 1,922 — 283,200 340,178 311,824 — 
			 Note: September 2010 figures are not available. Source: NOMIS.

Vacancies

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies there were in each (a) parliamentary constituency, (b) ward, (c) lower layer super output area and (d) Jobcentre Plus district on 1 October 2012.

Mark Hoban: The available information will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Work Programme

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) the UK who have been referred to the Work programme have found (i) part-time and (ii) full-time employment that lasted (A) less than and (B) more than six months to date.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on the number of people in (a) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) the UK who have been referred to the Work programme have found (i) part-time and (ii) full-time employment that lasted (A) less than and (B) more than six months are not available.

Work Programme

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) the UK have been referred to the Work Programme to date.

Mark Hoban: Official statistics on Work programme referrals can be found on the Department's website via the DWP Tabulation Tool:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance on use of the tabulation tool can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Work Programme: East of England

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on the Work programme in (a) the East of England and (b) Huntingdon constituency.

Mark Hoban: The total paid to Work programme providers in the UK is £337.9 million from the start of the programme through to 30 July 2012, i.e. the period covered by the Statistical Release. Due to commercial in confidence considerations, we are not able to release financial data below the national level at this time.

Work Programme: East of England

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of Work programme participants in the East of England are resident in Huntingdon constituency.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on what proportion of Work programme participants in the East of England are resident in Huntingdon constituency can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Work Programme: East of England

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job outcomes under the Work programme there have been in (a) the East of England and (b) Huntingdon constituency.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many job outcomes under the Work programme there have been in (a) the East of England and (b) Huntingdon constituency can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Work Programme: East of England

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what reduction in long-term unemployment there has been since the start of the Work programme in (a) the East of England and (b) Huntingdon constituency.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on what reduction in long-term unemployment there has been since the start of the Work programme in (a) the East of England and (b) Huntingdon constituency can be found at:
	https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/Default.asp

Work Programme: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have come off benefits after joining the Work programme in (a) Aberconwy and (b) North Wales to date.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Dogs: Litter

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fines have been issued to dog owners who failed to clear up their dog's faeces in England and Wales in the last 10 years.

Richard Benyon: Until 2008-09, DEFRA requested figures on the number of fixed penalty notices issued by local authorities. The collection of these figures was then discontinued following the decision by the coalition Government, which deemed this as an unnecessary data burden on local authorities.
	The following table reflects the number of fixed penalty notices issued for dog fouling for the period 2002-09.
	
		
			  Fixed penalty notices 
			 2002-03 2,063 
			 2003-04 2,742 
			 2004-05 2,515 
			 2005-06 3,782 
			 2006-07 3,675 
			 2007-08 1,938 
			 2008-09 2,082

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 529, on live animal exports, on how many occasions he has reported concerns over live animal export transporters to the competent authorities of other EU member states.

David Heath: The following paragraphs are extracts from the most recent Annual Report (for 2011) to the EU Commission on inspections and follow-up action under article 27 of Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, concerning the protection of animals during transport:
	“The United Kingdom continued to communicate and work with Member State (MS) contact points regarding potential contraventions of EC/1/2005 and information exchange under Article 26 of EC/1/2005. Similar to 2010, there were no serious welfare infringements reported by other MS regarding UK transporters during 2011. In 2011 there were seven notifications regarding UK transporters from other MS, three of which referred to a failure to return journey logs and included a continued case from the previous year. This is an improvement on 2010 where 8 out of a total of 12 notifications/elated to failed return of journey logs. Information exchange included confirmation of a transporter's competence following relocation to another MS and enquiries on AHVLA guidance on requirements for transport of horses through Eurotunnel.
	Thirty notifications were made by the UK to other MS in 2011 including a notification to all other MS of the temporary suspension of a UK transporter's authorisation in 2011. Whilst this was a 200% increase in number of MS notifications from 2010, only one of the notifications related to transport of an unfit animal, the remainder being technical or documentary non-compliances where animal welfare had not been directly impacted. This is in contrast with, and an excellent improvement on 2010 where 9 of the total 11 notifications had been related to the transport of unfit animals. It is believed that the UK's persistence in reporting such activities and widespread communication to both trade and professional journals in 2010-2011 had a positive impact in reducing the risk of unfit animals being transported to the UK from other MS.”

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, columns 529-42, on live animal exports, what steps he could take to intervene in live animal transport to another EU member state if there is (a) evidence of or (b) reasonable grounds to believe that mistreatment of animals is occurring after they leave the UK.

David Heath: Article 26 of Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005 sets out the procedures for the notification of any infringements of the welfare in transport legislation to the relevant competent authority which may have occurred after animals have left the UK. In particular, paragraph 6 permits member states to temporarily suspend the transporter or means of transport, in the case of repeated or serious infringements. The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) have used these powers to suspend the use of a total of 10 vehicles that have been approved and certified in another member state, until such a time as the identified faults have been addressed
	In addition, the AHVLA will report any suspected serious breach of the welfare in transport legislation to the relevant local authority with a view to investigation and possible prosecution.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 531, on live animal exports, what discussions he has had with the European Commission on the (a) enforcement of animal welfare provisions and (b) equal enforcement of all animal welfare provisions relating to live animal exports across the EU;
	(2)  pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, columns 524-42, on live animal exports, whether he will raise equal enforcement of animal welfare provisions within the EU live export trade at the next meeting of the European Council.

David Heath: The comments referred to in column 531. of the debate on live animal exports concerned my bilateral discussions with competent authorities in other member states. Should the outcome of any of these bilateral discussions be unsatisfactory, the issue will be subsequently raised with the EU Commission. As regards direct discussions with the EU Commission, DEFRA officials are in frequent contact with them on a wide range of enforcement issues concerning a wide range of animal species subject to the welfare in transport legislation.
	At the meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers on 18 June 2012, my predecessor the right hon. Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Sir James Paice), made it clear by means of a note for the Minutes of the meeting, that the UK shared the Commission's view that better enforcement of the existing legislation across the EU, should be the number one priority in relation to further work in this legislative area.
	The Government will take every opportunity to reinforce this message at Agriculture Council meetings in the future when the welfare in transport legislation is discussed.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 529, on live animal exports, what his policy is on a zero tolerance enforcement of animal welfare provisions; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: Where there is a significant risk of animals being transported in breach of the strict EU rules on the protection of animals during transport, I will ensure that inspection rates are increased to reflect this risk. This is why 100% of livestock consignments exported for slaughter from, Ramsgate are now inspected by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency at the point of loading.
	I also made it clear in my speech during the debate on live animal exports (see column 532) that this Government will not tolerate the use of sub-standard or faulty vehicles when used to transport animals.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 529, on live animal exports, what instructions or criteria he has issued to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency to implement a zero tolerance policy; and what measures he will take against (a) transporters authorised to operate in the UK and (b) transporters authorised to operate in other EU member states under this policy.

David Heath: The changes made in relation to Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency operational activities in relation to exports via Ramsgate are being reflected in the terms of their Operations Manual.
	Transporters are not separately authorised to operate in this country and in other member states. Once authorised, a transporter can operate in any member state it so chooses.
	Any regulatory action taken by DEFRA against transporters authorised in another member state must be in accordance with the requirements of article 26 of Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, columns 524-42, on live animal exports, what assessment he has made of other EU member states which receive live animal exports from the UK and their compliance to animal welfare provisions that govern the live animal export trade in Europe.

David Heath: The performance of other member states in relation to their own implementation of, and compliance to, the requirements of Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, is monitored and reported on by inspectors of the Food and Veterinary Office part of the EU Commission. Their inspection reports are made publicly available. Under these circumstances, it would not be appropriate for the UK to undertake any separate assessment of individual member state performance.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, columns 524-42, on live animal exports, whether he has raised the inadequate enforcement of animal welfare provisions with (a) Ministers of other EU member states which receive live animal exports from the UK and (b) the European Commission in the last six months.

David Heath: Day to day questions relating to the enforcement of animal welfare during transport rules are normally dealt with by DEFRA officials in conjunction with their counterparts in the competent authority concerned, in line with the requirements for mutual assistance and exchange of information laid down in Article 24 of Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005.
	If the problem is suitably serious or complex in nature, possibly involving both animal health and welfare issues, DEFRA’s chief veterinary officer will discuss the issue or write to the equivalent head of veterinary services in the country concerned, copying any correspondence to the EU Commission as appropriate. This has generally been successful in the past in resolving specific technical issues relating to enforcement of the welfare in transport legislation.
	The last ministerial discussion on the welfare in transport legislation (which included the EU Commission in an observational capacity) took place in the Agriculture Council meeting on 18 June. Ministers agreed at this meeting that in moving forward, the number one priority should be an improvement in the enforcement of the existing requirements of the legislation across the EU.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Aerials: Haslingden

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will update the Haslingden television transmitter following the loss of television channels by people living in that area.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 7 January 2013
	It is a matter for the commercial multiplex operators as to whether or not the Haslingden relay is upgraded to carry the commercial multiplexes. I understand that the operator of the wind farm which necessitated the aerial realignment of a number of households from the Winter Hill relay, which carries the commercial multiplexes, to the Haslingden relay, has offered to help those households affected to switch to Freesat if they wish.

BBC: Accountancy

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with the BBC Trust on providing the National Audit Office with unrestricted access to BBC accounts.

Edward Vaizey: There have been no recent discussions because in September 2011 the then Secretary of State laid before Parliament an amended version of the Agreement which gave the National Audit Office (NAO) full access to the BBC for carrying out value for money reviews. Under the amended Agreement the NAO is required to provide the BBC with an annual schedule of value for money reviews which can be amended on a specified date every quarter.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has had discussions with Network Rail on use of its ducts and land for a platform for fibre access to support the provision of broadband across the UK.

Edward Vaizey: Network Rail were one of the companies that considered becoming a BDUK framework supplier, but later withdrew from the process. The company would have considered how best to use its network during that time, but there have been no subsequent discussions with the company on this subject.

Broadband

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance her Department is offering to local authorities to help them complete the relevant procurement work for the rollout of broadband.

Edward Vaizey: To assist local authorities with the procurement process, Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) has put in place a framework delivery contract. Local authorities can run mini competitions from the framework to select a pre-qualified supplier to deliver broadband services for a local project. In addition, BDUK provides a range of logistical, technical, commercial and legal support to local authority project teams to support the delivery of the local projects.

Broadband

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to bid for contracts relating to broadband rollout.

Edward Vaizey: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) may benefit in two ways from Broadband Delivery UK's (BDUK) £530 million broadband funding. Firstly, through subcontracts as part of the delivery supply chain, for example in carrying out civil works, and secondly through increased business opportunities from the improved connectivity. Both the rural and urban programmes require local authorities bidding for funding to demonstrate that their proposals fit with the Government's approach to using SMEs in delivering Government projects. The requirements of the Urban Broadband Fund explicitly require cities to link the roll-out of faster broadband to increasing the capabilities of SMEs.
	In addition there is a £20 million joint Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)-BDUK Rural Community Broadband Fund aimed at community projects, for which smaller suppliers could be beneficiaries and small companies located in those communities could be beneficiaries from improved broadband connectivity.

Broadband

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the area of the UK that is not yet served by high speed digital broadband; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 7 January 2013
	The Ofcom Infrastructure Report update, published on 16 November 2012, estimates that superfast broadband from commercial suppliers was available to 65% of UK premises at that time. The £530 million Government investment programme, combined with a similar level of local authority investment, aims to increase availability of superfast broadband to 90% of UK premises and universal access to a minimum service of 2 Mbps.

Broadband Delivery UK

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to Broadband UK's (BDUK) annual report and accounts of 2011-12, in respect of what BDUK's £10 million expenditure on external consultants was made.

Edward Vaizey: Over the course of more than two years. Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) spent approximately £9.8 million on external consultants for the provision of procurement, technical, modelling and state aid expertise, legal advice, commercial and project support for local authorities and the devolved Administrations and additional programme administration support.

Broadband: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 7 September 2012, Official Report, columns 478-79W, on broadband: Hartlepool, if she will bring forward proposals to improve broadband (a) connectivity and (b) speed for Dalton Piercy village in Hartlepool constituency; what discussions her Department has had with (i) Dalton Piercy Parish Council, (ii) Hartlepool Borough Council, (iii) Durham County Council and (iv) private providers on connectivity of Dalton Piercy village; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Dalton Piercy village falls within the Durham Partnership local broadband plan area. The Government has allocated £9.88 million to support broadband delivery within the area covered by the partnership. As stated in my answer of 7 September, Durham county council is the lead authority for the local broadband project for that area, and is best placed to advise on the plans for deployment there. Detailed plans will not be available until the procurement process is complete. If the project keeps to the timetable that we have set out we would expect it to be possible for a contract to be agreed by April 2013.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what meetings her Department has had with EU officials on broadband rollout since 2010.

Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) worked closely with the Commission during the preparation and submission of its state aid notification between 2010 and 2012. During this period DCMS officials had a number of face-to-face meetings, conference calls and email exchanges with Commission officials that related to, or informed, either discussion papers, the pre-notification or the notification of state aid to the UK's national superfast broadband scheme.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Broadband Delivery UK's annual budget has been spent on expanding broadband within rural areas in each of the last three years (a) in cash terms and (b) as a proportion of its expenditure.

Edward Vaizey: The proportion of Broadband Delivery UK's (BDUK) administration budget spent on the rural broadband delivery programme in (a) cash and (b) as a proportion of expenditure is: in 2010-11 (a) £1 million and (b) 100%; in 2011-12 (a) £5.85 million and (b) 94%; and to the end of November 2012-13 (a) £3.8 million and (b) 63%. The decline in the proportion of the funding spent on the rural broadband programme reflects the addition of the Mobile Infrastructure Project and the Urban Broadband Fund to BDUK’s responsibilities in October 2011 and April 2012 respectively. BDUK programme expenditure to date is £366,600, spent this year. The proportion of this expenditure spent on the rural broadband delivery programme is (a) £276,000 and (b) 75%.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on rural broadband.

Edward Vaizey: Ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet colleagues from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss rural broadband.

Digital Broadcasting

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the potential costs of a shift of digital terrestrial broadcasting to the 600 MGHz band; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The question raised is one for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). On 16 November Ofcom published a statement on its plans to enable the release of new airwaves for future generations of mobile devices, which will help meet consumers' growing demand for data on the move. The plan includes the spectrum at 700 MHz and 600 MHz. The Department has made no estimate of the potential costs of a shift of digital terrestrial broadcasting to the 600 MHz band. It is too early to make assessments of any impact or benefit associated with any such move.

Internet

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of (a) pensioners and (b) people from low-income backgrounds with access to the internet in (i) Glasgow North West constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK.

Edward Vaizey: Ofcom's Communication Infrastructure Report 2012 stated that current generation broadband is available in close to 100% of premises in the UK. Ofcom estimated that 1.3% of UK premises were in potential broadband notspots (1.7% in Scotland), but noted that where broadband is not available via fixed access networks, customers may have access via other technologies such as satellite and mobile services or local community schemes. Take-up—as opposed to availability—of fixed access broadband was 63.7% in Glasgow, 66.9% in Scotland and 71% in the UK. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has made no additional estimate to Ofcom's of the number of pensioners or people from low income backgrounds with access to the internet.

Internet: Business

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she plans to take to ensure that small businesses with .co.uk addresses are not put at a disadvantage by the creation of the .uk domain name.

Edward Vaizey: Nominet is recognised by the Government as the registry with responsibility for oversight of the “.uk” top level internet domain. It is a private sector, not for profit, public purpose company. Its day-to-day operations are not subject to regulation by the Government. Nominet welcomes suggestions about “.uk” policy development. It is currently carrying out a public consultation on proposals to create a new shorter “.uk” domain with enhanced security features which would allow for the first time registrations at the second level immediately before the dot (e.g. “culture.uk”).
	Nominet has informed Government that its consultation is gathering perspectives from a broad range of stakeholders—including small businesses and their representatives—to inform their decision-making. Nominet has stated that it will be carefully considering that feedback in line with the company's public purpose.

Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many procurement officers in her Department have relevant procurement qualifications.

Hugh Robertson: All three procurement officers employed in the Department are professional members of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (MCIPS qualified).

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Elected Office: Access

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to widen access to elected office and to support people with disabilities to become hon. Members.

Chloe Smith: The Access to Elected Office Strategy, launched by the Government in July last year, aims to provide practical support for disabled people who want to become an elected representative. It includes a new £2.6 million fund to help disabled candidates meet the additional costs they face; free online training; three paid internships for disabled people on the Speaker’s parliamentary placement scheme; and new guidance for political parties on making reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of disabled Members and candidates.
	In addition, the Government are pleased to be supporting the hon. Member for Croydon Central’s Private Member’s Bill.

City Deals

Lorely Burt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the outcome of bids for the second round of city deals will be announced.

Nicholas Clegg: The second wave of “city deals” was launched on 29 October 2012. We have invited 20 cities to submit expressions of interest by no later than 15 January. Ministers will review these submissions and decide on which cities should go forward to negotiate a city deal. We aim to make these decisions by March and to have concluded deals with successful cities by November 2013.

Peers

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Government’s policy is on the creation of new peers.

Chloe Smith: As stated in the Programme for Government, appointments will be made to the House of Lords with the objective of creating a second Chamber that reflects the share of the vote secured by the political parties at the last general election.

All-postal Primaries

John Cryer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made on implementing the coalition agreement commitment on all-postal primaries.

Chloe Smith: Government committed to fund 200 all-postal primaries, targeting seats that have not changed hands for many years. Following legislation in 2011, the Boundary Commissions for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are consulting on changes to constituency boundaries, which will have implications for most existing constituencies. The Government will take this into account in determining the way forward on this proposal.

Electoral Register

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the most effective ways of ensuring the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register.

Chloe Smith: The Government are committed to doing all they can to maximise registration and are looking to modernise the system to make it as easy and convenient as possible for people to register to vote. The Government have carried out a detailed programme of research so that we could see the scale of the problem. This includes funding an Electoral Commission study on the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register; a literature review of all currently available research into electoral registration by an independent academic; and a qualitative study exploring the barriers to registration for those groups missing from the register under the current system.

Central Government: Devolution

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent steps he has taken to devolve power from central Government.

Nicholas Clegg: Since the coalition came to power, this Government have passed the Localism Act; created LEPs to bring together civic and private sector leaders to drive growth; agreed ‘city deals’ with the eight core cities and begun a second wave of city deals offering a further 20 cities the opportunity to devolve powers and budgets to the local level.
	We delivered a referendum in Wales which resulted in the Assembly assuming primary law making powers in all 20 devolved policy areas and we established the Silk Commission which continues its work to review the present financial and constitutional arrangements in Wales. In addition, the UK and Scottish Governments are working together to ensure the smooth implementation of Scotland Act 2012 which represents the greatest devolution of fiscal powers in 300 years.

Social Mobility Strategy

Mel Stride: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the contribution of shared parental leave arrangements to his social mobility strategy.

Nicholas Clegg: Good parenting has a crucial influence on child development, ensuring that children gain the cognitive and social skills they need to do well.
	The social mobility strategy set out our intention to help parents better balance work and home life. Last year I announced a range of new policies which will do just that: replacing the outdated and inflexible system of maternity, paternity and adoption leave with a system which gives families the rights they need to choose what works best for them.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Arrests: Greater London

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people arrested for (a) theft and (b) robbery in the Metropolitan police area were (i) UK nationals, (ii) nationals of eastern European countries and (iii) other nationals in the last year for which figures are available. [R]

Damian Green: holding answer 7 January 2013
	In 2010-11, 45,105 persons were arrested for offences relating to theft and handling stolen goods and 12,236 were arrested for robbery in the Metropolitan police area. Information on the nationality of those arrested is not collected centrally.
	Data for 2011-12 is scheduled for publication in spring 2013.

Arrests: Young People

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people under the age of 18 have been (a) arrested and (b) cautioned in each region in each month since May 2005.

Damian Green: Available information on arrests relates to the number of persons aged under 18 arrested for notifiable offences, by quarter, from April to June 2005 to January to March 2011 and are given in table A. Data for 2011-12 will be available in spring 2013.
	Data on arrests broken down by month are not reported to the Home Office.
	Data on offenders cautioned for all criminal offences, between 2005 and 2011, provided by the Ministry of Justice, are given in table B.
	Since the data in table A are based on notifiable offences by quarter, and the data in table B are based on all criminal offences and by month, data in the two tables may not be directly comparable.
	
		
			 Table A: Number of persons aged under 18 (1)  arrested for notifiable offences, by region and quarter, England and Wales 2005-06 to 2010-11 
			  Quarter North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands Eastern Region 
			 2005-06(2) Q1 (Apr-Jun) 7,021 14,322 12,450 6,635 7,451 7,461 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 6,300 13,573 11,404 6,848 6,945 8,415 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 6,652 13,623 12,505 6,748 6,502 7,597 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 6,624 13,224 11,506 5,645 5,408 5,891 
			         
			 2006-07(3) Q1 (Apr-Jun) 6,957 14,101 10,899 6,111 6,932 6,257 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 6,693 14,023 10,348 6,469 6,745 6,496 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 6,514 13,993 11,106 7,072 6,797 7,848 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 7,234 13,484 10,793 6,677 6,810 8,025 
			         
			 2007-08 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 6,658 13,593 10,614 6,860 6,553 8,686 
		
	
	
		
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 5,778 12,226 9,410 6,089 6,292 7,436 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 4,964 11,158 8,532 5,693 5,736 6,610 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 5,234 10,886 8,629 5,398 5,726 7,088 
			         
			 2008-09 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 5,397 11,211 8,028 5,556 5,901 7,585 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 4,903 10,602 7,558 5,063 5,418 7,155 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 4,597 9,170 6,990 4,873 5,055 6,595 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 4,762 9,154 6,990 4,641 4,739 6,162 
			         
			 2009-10 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 4,720 9,731 7,457 4,788 4,591 6,997 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 3,910 8,982 7,043 4,574 4,071 6,275 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 3,495 7,910 5,961 4,126 3,810 5,665 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 3,645 8,193 6,015 4,199 3,721 5,228 
			         
			 2010-11 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 4,223 8,706 6,230 4,719 3,794 5,439 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 3,846 8,137 5,857 4,457 3,355 5,330 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 3,307 6,681 4,650 3,808 2,956 4,433 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 3,196 6,697 5,198 3,723 2,906 4,262 
		
	
	
		
			  Quarter London South East South West Wales Total 
			 2005-06(2) Q1 (Apr-Jun) 11,134 14,740 5,980 5,327 92,521 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 10,234 13,206 5,738 5,111 87,774 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 11,005 12,630 6,249 5,231 88,742 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 11,541 11,801 5,271 4,827 81,738 
			        
			 2006-07(3) Q1 (Apr-Jun) 12,780 13,118 — — — 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 11,442 12,181 — — — 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 12,817 12,958 — — — 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 13,780 12,241 (23,625) (20,490) (353,816) 
			        
			 2007-08 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 13,016 12,921 6,002 4,672 89,575 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 11,138 11,681 5,468 4,586 80,104 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 10,627 10,536 5,142 4,207 73,205 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 11,102 10,300 4,644 3,675 72,682 
			        
			 2008-09 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 11,320 10,482 4,939 3,912 74,331 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 10,529 9,929 4,633 4,068 69,858 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 10,287 9,325 4,342 3,934 65,168 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 10,520 9,356 3,889 3,782 63,995 
			        
			 2009-10 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 11,385 9,653 4,441 3,936 67,699 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 10,106 9,037 4,223 3,695 61,916 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 9,834 7,712 3,779 3,374 55,666 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 11,344 7,317 3,360 3,194 56,216 
			        
			 2010-11 Q1 (Apr-Jun) 11,821 8,058 4,062 3,094 60,146 
			  Q2 (Jul-Sep) 10,702 7,256 3,867 2,918 55,725 
			  Q3 (Oct-Dec) 9,569 6,228 3,159 2,448 47,239 
			  Q4 (Jan-Mar) 10,253 6,281 2,753 2,304 47,573 
			 (1) The minimum age at which persons in England and Wales may be arrested is 10. On occasion however, a person under 10 may be arrested if their age is not known at the time of arrest. All arrests of persons aged under 18, including those under 10 are included in the table. (2) Data for Q1 for the East Midlands region excludes data for Lincolnshire, as they were unable to provide data on the age breakdown of persons arrested for that quarter. (3) In 2006-07, Wiltshire and South Wales police force areas were unable to provide a quarterly breakdown for arrests. The full years data were provided in quarter 4. As a result, a total for all four quarters only is provided for 2006-07. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table B: Juvenile (1)  offenders cautioned (2, 3)  in each region (4)  in each month, 2005 to 2011, England and Wales 
			 Government Office Region January February March April May June 
			 2005       
			 East 834 765 849 1,013 1,006 1,008 
			 East Midlands 642 751 759 861 739 817 
			 London 929 825 920 883 882 1,030 
			 North East 682 681 676 702 773 750 
			 North West 1,152 1,198 1,430 1,367 1,391 1,480 
			 South East 1,569 1,491 1,737 1,614 1,686 1,700 
			 South West 613 707 713 788 793 923 
			 Wales 519 469 525 594 549 632 
			 West Midlands 947 891 1,120 1,119 1,160 1,314 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 967 1,048 1,276 1,190 1,317 1,168 
			 Total 8,854 8,826 10,005 10,131 10,296 10,822 
			        
			 2006       
			 East 1,070 1,031 1,152 1,062 1,201 1,484 
			 East Midlands 985 819 929 861 1,033 782 
			 London 1,014 1,030 1,123 902 1,090 1,097 
			 North East 818 776 822 935 869 916 
			 North West 1,069 1,174 1,242 1,385 1,347 1,374 
			 South East 1,289 1,379 1,600 1,453 1,593 1,552 
			 South West 890 840 940 880 897 962 
			 Wales 527 532 634 609 653 722 
			 West Midlands 1,065 1,127 1,284 1,358 1,333 1,319 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,214 1,229 1,488 1,333 1,114 1,181 
			 Total 9,941 9,937 11,214 10,778 11,130 11,389 
			        
			 2007       
			 East 1,259 1,200 1,361 1,251 1,139 1,241 
			 East Midlands 843 874 927 874 853 907 
			 London 1,246 1,209 1,335 1,105 1,172 1,154 
			 North East 909 695 771 865 973 778 
			 North West 1,294 1,205 1,594 1,306 1,365 1,314 
			 South East 1,548 1,430 1,633 1,446 1,682 1,712 
			 South West 918 833 1,187 1,106 1,191 1,151 
			 Wales 483 449 496 566 601 550 
			 West Midlands 1,282 1,105 1,601 1,197 1,517 1,313 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,261 1,305 1,438 1,377 1,376 1,229 
			 Total 11,043 10,305 12,343 11,093 11,869 11,349 
			        
			 2008       
			 East 923 972 941 934 1,045 907 
			 East Midlands 727 708 747 739 719 657 
			 London 956 1,024 1,059 953 959 939 
			 North East 720 613 732 791 652 680 
			 North West 967 1,032 1,099 1,159 1,069 1,167 
			 South East 1,044 1,000 1,203 1,196 1,200 1,145 
			 South West 913 962 967 1,134 915 1,015 
			 Wales 501 585 527 494 511 481 
			 West Midlands 918 926 947 919 772 953 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 826 1,057 1,027 939 924 833 
			 Total 8,495 8,879 9,249 9,258 8,766 8,777 
			        
			 2009       
			 East 697 795 936 998 971 830 
			 East Midlands 510 501 570 527 480 536 
			 London 704 772 940 755 844 885 
			 North East 475 511 651 612 577 565 
			 North West 780 771 898 781 886 894 
			 South East 963 1,501 1,704 1,235 993 1,081 
			 South West 533 510 577 550 491 559 
			 Wales 527 569 470 424 325 571 
			 West Midlands 589 682 852 520 603 541 
		
	
	
		
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 652 671 793 817 885 811 
			 Total 6,430 7,283 8,391 7,219 7,055 7,273 
			        
			 2010       
			 East 541 487 693 777 662 561 
			 East Midlands 361 378 427 402 423 443 
			 London 458 551 603 540 463 533 
			 North East 287 289 334 310 306 325 
			 North West 548 655 687 650 608 704 
			 South East 646 689 836 629 650 681 
			 South West 381 348 477 417 394 439 
			 Wales 304 256 279 280 335 279 
			 West Midlands 370 391 453 366 392 407 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 455 437 538 442 404 457 
			 Total 4,351 4,481 5,327 4,813 4,637 4,829 
			        
			 2011       
			 East 452 419 492 428 493 454 
			 East Midlands 405 376 401 420 435 392 
			 London 335 362 404 342 369 379 
			 North East 231 194 258 238 276 277 
			 North West 459 473 502 442 489 534 
			 South East 604 558 589 536 481 565 
			 South West 360 356 389 363 368 450 
			 Wales 227 209 253 201 246 230 
			 West Midlands 299 307 340 333 339 321 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 340 356 375 393 414 402 
			 Total 3,712 3,610 4,003 3,696 3,910 4,004 
			        
			 England and Wales       
			 East 5,776 5,669 6,424 6,463 6,517 6,485 
			 East Midlands 4,473 4,407 4,760 4,684 4,682 4,534 
			 London 5,642 5,773 6,384 5,480 5,779 6,017 
			 North East 4,122 3,759 4,244 4,453 4,426 4,291 
			 North West 6,269 6,508 7,452 7,090 7,155 7,467 
			 South East 7,663 8,048 9,302 8,109 8,285 8,436 
			 South West 4,608 4,556 5,250 5,238 5,049 5,499 
			 Wales 3,088 3,069 3,184 3,168 3,220 3,465 
			 West Midlands 5,470 5,429 6,597 5,812 6,116 6,168 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 5,715 6,103 6,935 6,491 6,434 6,081 
			 Total 52,826 53,321 60,532 56,988 57,663 58,443 
		
	
	
		
			 Government Office Region July August September October November December Total 
			 2005        
			 East 943 981 922 1,012 978 783 11,094 
			 East Midlands 950 838 782 883 910 880 9,812 
			 London 996 888 776 931 1,002 997 11,059 
			 North East 783 619 813 790 705 557 8,531 
			 North West 1,257 1,283 1,106 1,306 1,369 1,126 15,465 
			 South East 1,636 1,625 1,371 1,433 1,513 1,416 18,791 
			 South West 845 834 805 863 822 876 9,582 
			 Wales 647 533 490 588 513 533 6,592 
			 West Midlands 1,213 1,206 1,117 1,177 1,205 1,055 13,524 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,135 1,180 1,048 1,365 1,393 1,335 14,422 
			 Total 10,405 9,987 9,230 10,348 10,410 9,558 118,872 
			         
			 2006        
			 East 1,235 1,053 1,099 1,342 1,277 1,137 14,143 
			 East Midlands 927 819 826 890 919 951 10,741 
			 London 1,147 996 909 1,194 1,209 1,142 12,853 
			 North East 780 852 803 811 874 775 10,031 
			 North West 1,423 1,509 1,231 1,504 1,350 1,154 15,762 
		
	
	
		
			 South East 1,504 1,445 1,298 1,463 1,679 1,357 17,612 
			 South West 847 890 894 815 1,001 882 10,738 
			 Wales 563 657 651 701 584 515 7,348 
			 West Midlands 1,132 1,243 1,104 1,449 1,336 1,098 14,848 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,188 1,076 965 1,396 1,502 1,299 14,985 
			 Total 10,746 10,540 9,780 11,565 11,731 10,310 129,061 
			         
			 2007        
			 East 1,654 1,351 1,114 986 1,111 1,122 14,789 
			 East Midlands 899 903 771 747 837 706 10,141 
			 London 1,257 1,033 919 1,021 916 819 13,186 
			 North East 890 901 609 758 688 594 9,431 
			 North West 1,426 1,255 1,090 1,288 1,217 905 15,259 
			 South East 1,712 1,456 1,206 1,332 1,316 1,096 17,569 
			 South West 1,131 957 955 1,003 985 774 12,191 
			 Wales 589 489 548 695 502 452 6,420 
			 West Midlands 1,152 1,026 991 1,018 1,023 831 14,056 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,301 1,170 889 1,102 967 869 14,284 
			 Total 12,011 10,541 9,092 9,950 9,562 8,168 127,326 
			         
			 2008        
			 East 938 720 669 851 698 660 10,258 
			 East Midlands 687 527 527 612 594 561 7,805 
			 London 1,070 809 799 960 841 837 11,206 
			 North East 750 566 523 596 607 455 7,685 
			 North West 1,139 890 891 989 818 712 11,932 
			 South East 1,204 1,123 927 1,090 959 876 12,967 
			 South West 962 660 744 681 582 487 10,022 
			 Wales 619 571 473 525 464 355 6,106 
			 West Midlands 895 778 763 784 642 648 9,945 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 877 756 766 803 778 663 10,249 
			 Total 9,141 7,400 7,082 7,891 6,983 6,254 98,175 
			         
			 2009        
			 East 909 817 731 827 693 672 9,876 
			 East Midlands 524 483 401 432 441 434 5,839 
			 London 739 568 556 568 580 468 8,379 
			 North East 529 467 397 371 305 313 5,773 
			 North West 794 817 779 663 655 499 9,217 
			 South East 1,093 945 903 874 716 701 12,709 
			 South West 595 471 498 486 466 362 6,098 
			 Wales 787 700 413 455 459 316 6,016 
			 West Midlands 512 446 473 502 413 389 6,522 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 761 629 589 555 550 537 8,250 
			 Total 7,243 6,343 5,740 5,733 5,278 4,691 78,679 
			         
			 2010        
			 East 624 571 521 559 486 404 6,886 
			 East Midlands 445 396 384 347 388 287 4,681 
			 London 517 462 395 424 390 319 5,655 
			 North East 298 256 271 296 287 232 3,491 
			 North West 606 554 479 484 501 346 6,822 
			 South East 712 641 643 646 666 540 7,979 
			 South West 499 347 444 443 371 291 4,851 
			 Wales 282 248 269 302 300 196 3,330 
			 West Midlands 417 330 330 334 347 279 4,416 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 454 370 362 374 345 240 4,878 
			 Total 4,854 4,175 4,098 4,209 4,081 3,134 52,989 
			         
			 2011        
			 East 512 420 362 454 421 382 5,289 
			 East Midlands 398 379 352 338 321 293 4,510 
			 London 383 308 260 247 281 219 3,889 
		
	
	
		
			 North East 252 239 205 257 238 206 2,871 
			 North West 564 477 416 380 394 362 5,492 
			 South East 534 582 462 464 437 366 6,178 
			 South West 415 374 357 354 338 277 4,401 
			 Wales 232 228 242 229 200 153 2,650 
			 West Midlands 336 283 250 284 259 233 3,584 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 396 352 328 359 294 252 4,261 
			 Total 4,022 3,642 3,234 3,366 3,183 2,743 43,125 
			         
			 England and Wales        
			 East 6,815 5,913 5,418 6,031 5,664 5,160 72,335 
			 East Midlands 4,830 4,345 4,043 4,249 4,410 4,112 53,529 
			 London 6,109 5,064 4,614 5,345 5,219 4,801 66,227 
			 North East 4,282 3,900 3,621 3,879 3,704 3,132 47,813 
			 North West 7,209 6,785 5,992 6,614 6,304 5,104 79,949 
			 South East 8,395 7,817 6,810 7,302 7,286 6,352 93,805 
			 South West 5,294 4,533 4,697 4,645 4,565 3,949 57,883 
			 Wales 3,719 3,426 3,086 3,495 3,022 2,520 38,462 
			 West Midlands 5,657 5,312 5,028 5,548 5,225 4,533 66,895 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 6,112 5,533 4,947 5,954 5,829 5,195 71,329 
			 Total 58,422 52,628 48,256 53,062 51,228 44,858 648,227 
			 (1) Defined as being aged 10 to 17. (2 )The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When an offender has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. (3 )From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings, which is what is presented in this table. (4 )Defined as comprising the following police force areas: East—Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex. East Midlands—Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire. London—City of London, Metropolitan police. North East—Cleveland, Durham, Northumbria. North West—Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester. South East—Sussex, Thames Valley, Hampshire, Surrey, Kent. South West—Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Wales—Gwent, South Wales, Dyfed-Powys, North Wales. West Midlands—West Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia. Yorkshire and Humberside—North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services within the Ministry of Justice

Bramshill Police College

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much capital investment there has been in Bramshill police college in each financial year between 2009-10 and 2012-13.

Damian Green: The National Policing Improvement Agency as freehold owner of the Bramshill site spent £19.7 million of capital on estates assets at the site across the period requested. This figure can be broken down as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2009-10 14.3 
			 2010-11 3.3 
			 2011-12 1.4 
			 2012-13 0.7

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make an assessment of the potential benefit of conducting a national television advertising campaign on raising awareness of the carbon monoxide risk associated with taking barbecues into tents.

Jo Swinson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Department has not carried out public awareness campaigns for a number of years and has no plans to make an assessment of a television campaign. This is because we believe bodies such as the Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and the Camping and Caravanning Club are better placed to determine how to direct such campaigns.
	Recent examples include the Gas Safe Society's leaflet campaign, available at:
	http://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/downloads/25885_GasSafe_CO_Campaign_DL_Leaflet_2pp_AW_v1_lr.pdf
	and advice on the Camping and Caravanning Club website:
	http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/camping-safety/carbon-monoxide-poisoning/

Closed Circuit Television

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of likely trends in the number of CCTV cameras in operation in the UK up to 2015.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 7 January 2013
	The Home Office has made no assessment of the likely trends in the number of CCTV cameras in operation in the UK up to 2015.

Communications Data Bill (Draft)

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her latest estimate is of the cost of fully implementing the draft Communications Data Bill.

James Brokenshire: The Communications Capabilities Development Programme's business case is being revised at present. We will provide the new estimates in an impact assessment alongside a revised Bill.

Crimes of Violence: Arrests

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) arrested and (b) charged with offences relating to assault on (i) shop workers and (ii) other public-facing workers in the last 12 months.

Jeremy Browne: This information is not collected centrally.

Crimes of Violence: Females

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many female victims of (a) grievous bodily harm and (b) actual bodily harm there were (i) of each age and (ii) in each ward in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Browne: The information requested is not available from the police recorded data collected by the Home Office. While statistics are held on the number of recorded offences of grievous bodily harm (GBH) and actual bodily harm (ABH), it is not possible to identify either the gender or the age of the victim.
	In addition, recorded crime data is not available at ward level.

Databases: Telecommunications

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what her policy is on the recommendations made by the Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Data Bill that the Interception of Communications Commissioner should be given increased powers to monitor communications data requests, including testing of necessity and proportionality;
	(2)  whether she plans to propose changes to the legal definitions of communications data and content to reflect current communications practices;
	(3)  what her policy is towards the establishment of a specialised single point of contact unit for communications data requests by infrequent users; and what assessment she has made of the effect that such a unit would have on operational practice;
	(4)  if she will keep communications monitoring laws under regular review and if necessary bring forward legislative proposals to amend those laws in the light of the fast changing nature of communications practices.

James Brokenshire: The Government has received the report of the Joint Committee on the Communications Data Bill and accepted the substance of all its recommendations.
	We will discuss these issues with the incoming Interception of Communications Commissioner, in order to ensure that he has the powers and resources he requires to fulfil his duties under the proposed legislation.
	We are looking at the definitions of communications data, given the wide array of information held by some social media platforms. We will address this issue in consultation with communications service providers.
	We also accept the Committee's proposal for a centralised Single Point of Contact (SPoC), on the basis that it will ensure the appropriate expertise is in place to safeguard access to communications data.
	A full response to the Committee's report will be issued to Parliament in due course. The Government is committed to post-legislative scrutiny of its legislation.

Databases: Telecommunications

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the training of law enforcement officers in understanding and using communications intercept powers; and whether she has any plans to improve that training.

James Brokenshire: The responsibility for delivering training to law enforcement officers is transferring from the National Police Improvement Agency to the new College of Policing.
	We are working with them to ensure that training across law enforcement takes proper account of how communications technology, the communications industry and communications usage are changing and how this might affect criminal behaviour. The primary requirement in law enforcement is to develop a broad-based knowledge and understanding of communications technology and usage, what information may be obtained from industry when authorised, and how this can be used to assist investigations.
	In his evidence to the Joint Committee on the CD Bill, DCI Steve Higgins (NPIA) said that since October 2010, a five-day course for investigators and analysts has been rolled out to over 5,000 police officers and staff. Measures are in place to evaluate this programme—all classroom based training, for example, is assessed three months after courses. The latest statistics show that 91% of officers completing the core skills course believe it has improved their ability to support investigations. Surveys and data on communication data applications will be used to evaluate the long-term success of the programme. The learning delivered by the programme is coordinated with regular briefings for police forces.

Databases: Telecommunications

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness with which law enforcement agencies use their powers to intercept communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

James Brokenshire: The 2008 Privy Council Review of Intercept as Evidence stated that interception “is essential for national security and so must be retained and protected”. In his 2011 report, the Interception of Communications Commissioner states that:
	“lawful interception and the use of communications data represent significant, cost-effective tools in the fight against the growing number and variety of threats faced by the citizens of the UK.”
	Interception is used as part of a range of investigative techniques to combat terrorism and tackle serious crime.

Databases: Telecommunications

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the long-term viability of the current voluntary system of provision of communications data by overseas companies to UK public authorities.

James Brokenshire: There are constructive working relationships between overseas providers and UK public authorities. Our aim is to maintain and enhance these relationships so public authorities can get better access to communications data. The new legislation will provide us with an updated legal mandate to work collaboratively with overseas providers to invest in systems to ensure that the data is retained appropriately and is available (subject to robust safeguards) to public authorities in a form that is accessible to them.

Databases: Telecommunications

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public authorities are currently allowed access to communications data and whether she plans to increase or decrease the number of authorities that will be covered by the powers contained in the draft Communications Data Bill.

James Brokenshire: A full list of those authorities currently approved by Parliament to access communications data is contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Communications Data) Order 2010.
	In terms of the current proposals, only four bodies or types of body are currently listed on the face of the Bill: the police, intelligence agencies, the National Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs. The Bill draft already makes clear that local authorities will not have access to additional data generated under the Bill and if other bodies cannot justify their access, they will not receive it.
	Parliament will scrutinise and approve the proposed list of public authorities, the data they can access, and the purposes for which it can be accessed.

Deportation: Sri Lanka

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received from human rights groups on the UK's returns policy to Sri Lanka.

Mark Harper: Representations have been made by Freedom from Torture who have made allegations as to mistreatment of Tamil returnees to Sri Lanka from the UK.
	Similar representations and allegations have been made by Human Rights Watch and Tamils against Genocide.

Deportation: Sri Lanka

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent consideration she has given to the UK's returns policy to Sri Lanka.

Mark Harper: The alleged mistreatment of returnees to Sri Lanka has been fully considered by the UK Border Agency. Guidance was issued in a country policy bulletin for Sri Lanka, published on the UK Border Agency website in October 2012. Following consideration of the evidence published by Freedom from Torture, Human Rights Watch and Tamils against Genocide it was concluded that it did not support the assertion that a change in the UK Border Agency's policy on returns to Sri Lanka is warranted.

Employment Agencies

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total spending on recruitment agencies by her Department was in each month from July to December 2012.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office accounting system does not separately identify spending on recruitment agencies.

Entry Clearances

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many migrants have entered the country on a tourist visa and then not returned to their country of origin in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: Since the phasing out of embarkation controls in 1994, no Government has ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally. By its very nature, it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case. Information on the number of tourist visitors to the United Kingdom who overstayed their visa over the last five years could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
	e-Borders screens over 64% of passenger movements in and out of the UK (including 100% of commercial aviation routes from outside the EEA). e-Borders enables us to target the most harmful individuals and supports the ability to undertake effective exit checks as passengers leave the UK. It processes in excess of 138 million passenger and crew movements a year across more than 4,300 routes.
	e-Borders is one of a comprehensive suite of checks being carried out at the border. Through screening passenger data against wider watchlists and databases, the system has proved successful in detecting previously unknown individuals and providing an intelligence-led basis to undertaking interventions at ports of arrival or departure and elsewhere across the globe.

Entry Clearances: India

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visitor visas were applied for by people from India in each of the last three years; and how many such applications were granted.

Mark Harper: Visit visa applications can be submitted worldwide at any of the UK Border Agency's visa application centres, regardless of the applicants' nationality.
	The figures provided are for visit visa applications submitted by Indian nationals in India only.
	
		
			  Total visitors 
			 Financial year Applications Issued 
			 2009-10 269,885 236,240 
			 2010-11 292,293 255,140 
			 2011-12 292,610 265,301 
			 Note: These data are based on internal UK Border Agency Management Information. It is provisional and subject to change.

Entry Clearances: India

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visitor visas for people from India were decided (a) within four weeks, (b) between four and eight weeks, (c) between eight and 12 weeks and (d) after more than 12 weeks in the last year.

Mark Harper: Visit visa applications can be submitted worldwide at any of the UK Border Agency's visa application centres, regardless of the applicants' nationality.
	The figures provided are the processing times for visit visa applications for Indian nationals applying from India in the financial year 2011-12.
	
		
			 Visitors Number 
			 Resolved cases 291,504 
			 Of which  
			 Within 4 weeks 276,949 
			 4-8 weeks 13,760 
			 8-12 weeks 401 
			 Over 12 weeks 394 
			 Note: These data are based on internal UK Border Agency Management Information. It is provisional and subject to change.

Entry Clearances: India

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much revenue was earned from applications for visitor visas from people from India in each of the last three years.

Mark Harper: Visit visa applications can be submitted worldwide at any of the UK Border Agency's visa application centres, regardless of the applicants' nationality.
	The data provided in the table is for applications and income received for visit visa applications submitted by Indian nationals in India.
	
		
			 Financial year Applications Income (£) 
			 2009-10 269,885 24,191,549 
			 2010-11 292,293 27,020,814 
			 2011-12 292,610 30,108,361 
			 Note: These data are based on internal UK Border Agency Management Information. It is provisional and subject to change.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the applicants who applied for sponsor status between 1 July and 30 September 2012 and have had their sponsor status approved received a pre-registration visit before approval by points-based system tier.

Mark Harper: holding answer 18 December 2012
	Of successful applications submitted between 1 July and 30 September 2012, the following received a pre-licence visit:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 Tier 2 8.22 
			 Tier 4 47.05 
			 Tier 5 4.54. 
		
	
	The decision to undertake a pre-licence visit is taken on the basis of an assessment of risk.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the UK Border Agency on issues affecting tier 4 visas for (a) London Metropolitan university and (b) other higher education institutions; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: holding answer 20 December 2012
	The UK Border Agency has kept Ministers fully informed about all of its decisions in relation to the case of London Metropolitan university, in particular the decisions to suspend and revoke the university’s tier 4 sponsorship licence.
	The UK Border Agency has also kept Ministers fully informed, where it has decided to take compliance action against other higher education institutions.

Entry Clearances: Pakistan

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many student visitor visas were issued to Pakistani nationals in each of the last three years.

Mark Harper: There were 199, 304 and 440 entry clearance student visitor visas (main applicants) issued to Pakistani nationals in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively (based on published immigration statistics for 2010 and 2011 and on provisional internal UK Border Agency management information for 2009).
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas issued is published in the release Immigration Statistics release, which is available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/
	A copy of the latest release “Immigration Statistics July-September 2012” has been placed in the House Library.

Immigration

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate the additional cost of the delivery of those public services for which her Department is responsible arising from inward migration since 1997.

Mark Harper: The Department does not routinely collate the information needed to provide such estimates, and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

Immigration Controls

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times Warnings Index checks have been suspended at ports of entry in the last year; and at which ports of entry have these suspensions taken place.

Mark Harper: holding answer 12 December 2012
	All passengers who present themselves at the PCP on arrival to the UK or juxtaposed controls are examined by a Border Force officer and checked against a Home Office database before being allowed into the UK. Giving more detailed information would prejudice the security of the UK Border.

Immigration Controls

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the UK Border Agency's service standard targets are for processing in-country immigration applications for limited leave to remain and permanent leave to remain by (a) points-based system tier and (b) category.

Mark Harper: holding answer 17 December 2012
	The UK Border Agency's service targets for processing in-country immigration applications for limited leave to remain and permanent leave to remain are published on their website and the following table is taken from the document available at the following link:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/percentage-of-migration/
	
		
			 In- c ountry  applications —Postal  service standards 
			  2010-12 2012-13 
			  Percentage Time Percentage Time 
			 Family 65 In 4 weeks 65 In 4 weeks 
			 Visiting the UK 65 In 4 week 80 In 4 weeks 
			 Employment 75 In 4 weeks 90 In 4 weeks 
			 Study 75 In 4 weeks 85 In 4 weeks 
			 Permanent Residence 95 In 6 months 99 In 6 months 
			 European Casework, ECAA and Bulgaria and Romania Casework 95 In 6 months 99 In 6 months 
			 Accession 95 In 4 weeks 99 In 4 weeks 
			 British Citizenship 95 In 6 months 99 In 6 months 
			 Sponsor Licensing 65 In 4 weeks 80 In 4 weeks

Immigration Controls

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of in-country immigration applications for limited leave to remain and permanent leave to remain were processed within the UK Border Agency’s service standard target between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2012 by (a) points-based system tier and (b) category.

Mark Harper: holding answer 17 December 2012
	Data on the number of points-based system applications decided and the proportion of those decided within service standard is published on an annual and quarterly basis. Latest figures are available on the UK Border Agency website at the following link:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/percentage-of-migration/

Licensing Laws

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if she will broaden the definition of ancillary sale for the purposes of easing the licensing burdens for businesses currently covered by such a definition;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to reduce the licensing burdens on ancillary sellers of alcohol; and what barriers she is putting in place to prevent the abuse of such a reduction in alcohol licensing requirements.

Jeremy Browne: The Government is committed to reducing unnecessary regulation for businesses. Reducing the licensing burdens on ancillary sellers of alcohol is one of the proposals in the alcohol strategy on which we are currently consulting. This includes seeking views on the definition of ancillary sales and the impact this proposal could have on the licensing objectives. We will publish our response to the consultation in due course, after it has closed on 6 February.

Passports

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of passports that were issued for residents of (a) Glasgow, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011 and (iv) 2012.

Mark Harper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 December 2012, Official Report, column 801W.
	While the Identity and Passport Service does not normally hold information on the geographical location of the applicant, work has been carried out on the location of the address from which applications have been made in the UK.
	The following table sets out the number of passports issued in each of the requested years by virtue of the address from which the application has been received. Providing evidence of place of residence is not a requirement in considering an application for a passport.
	
		
			 Number 
			 Calendar year PPT's issued to Scottish postcodes PPT's issued to Glasgow postcodes IPS PPT's issued to all UK 
			 2009 542,752 151,159 5,105,698 
			 2010 532,933 143,489 5,367,259 
			 2011 541,550 151,800 5,259,835 
			 2012(1) 561,498 150,704 5,122,180 
			 (1) 2012 information up to month end November. Source: Data—HQ Ml Services monthly OUTPUT database for Scotland and Glasgow PPT's

Police

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were for every 100,000 residents in (a) the west midlands, (b) Birmingham and (c) each police authority area in each year since 2008.

Damian Green: The number of police officers per 100,000 population, by police force area and Birmingham basic command unit, as at 31 March 2008 to 2012 (full-time equivalent) can be seen in the following table. Figures at basic command unit level ceased to be collected from 2011-12 by the Home Office.
	
		
			 Number of police officers per 100,000 population, by police force area and Birmingham basic command unit as at 31 March 2008 to  31 March  2012 (1,2,3,4) 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Avon and Somerset 218 213 207 200 187 
			 Bedfordshire 204 209 208 201 188 
			 Cambridgeshire 183 191 191 180 174 
			 Cheshire 218 217 215 207 199 
			 Cleveland 303 314 309 296 271 
			 Cumbria 251 258 250 238 228 
			 Derbyshire 212 215 207 201 180 
			 Devon and Cornwall 214 213 213 206 192 
			 Dorset 216 213 209 205 193 
			 Durham 272 263 249 236 223 
			 Essex 203 206 211 208 196 
			 Gloucestershire 234 235 223 214 204 
			 Greater Manchester 315 321 316 300 285 
			 Hampshire 214 207 202 196 182 
			 Hertfordshire 204 204 196 187 179 
			 Humberside 248 233 225 213 201 
			 Kent 227 231 229 220 208 
			 Lancashire 254 259 253 ¦239 229 
			 Leicestershire 233 243 236 224 215 
			 Lincolnshire 175 177 173 172 162 
			 London, City of * * * * * 
			 Merseyside 331 333 334 318 302 
			 Metropolitan Police 430 432 436 430 411 
			 Norfolk 190 198 196 187 179 
			 Northamptonshire 196 196 198 191 180 
			 Northumbria 285 294 298 289 274, 
			 North Yorkshire 202 185 188 183 175 
			 Nottinghamshire 224 227 225 215 200 
			 South Yorkshire 248 235 226 219 209 
			 Staffordshire 214 208 203 195 182 
			 Suffolk . 188 182 175 174 163 
			 Surrey 179 170 172 169 175 
			 Sussex 201 208 207 199 188 
			 Thames Valley 194 198 201 197 , 193 
			 Warwickshire 198 189 182 172 157 
			 West Mercia 210 208 201 189 184 
			 West Midlands 324 332 329 309 295 
			 West Yorkshire 269 268 261 249 232 
			 Wiltshire 190 191 182 168 160 
			 Dyfed-Powys 237 236 236 229 223 
			 Gwent 266 257 257 268 258 
			 North Wales 234 234 234 225 214 
			 South Wales 264 255 253 247 231 
			 Total of all 43 forces 264 266 264 254 243 
			 Birmingham 304 307 303 225 — 
			 Note: 1. This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. 2. Officers per 100,000 population for City of London and Metropolitan police are combined. 3. The number of police officers for Birmingham basic command unit for 31 March 2011 is the sum of Birmingham East, Birmingham North, Birmingham South and Birmingham West and Central. The number of police officers for 31 March 2008 to 2010 for Birmingham basic command unit are the sum of West Midlands D1-03, E1-E3 and F1-F3 basic command units. 4. Figures at basic command unit level ceased to be collected from 2011/12 following Lord Wasserman's assessment.

Police: Finance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the policing budget will be protected from the planned reduction in departmental spending in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Damian Green: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made in the House on 19 December 2012, Official Report, columns 112-18WS. I have decided to protect the police from the reductions in 2013-14 as a result of the reduction in the Department's budget announced by the Chancellor at the autumn statement. I have also taken the decision to protect the police from reductions as a result of the public sector pay restraint announced at autumn statement 2011. I have not yet made a decision on police funding allocations for 2014-15.

Procurement

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the monetary value was of contracts awarded by her Department to (a) management consultancies and (b) IT companies in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The value of contracts awarded by the Home Department and its Executive agencies to management companies and IT companies in 2010-11 and 2011-12 was as follows:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Financial year Management consultancies ICT companies 
			 2010-11 37.71 164.62 
			 2011-12 30.74 107.68

Redundancy

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many civil service posts have been made redundant by her Department in each year since 1999; and what the cost of redundancies has been in each such year;
	(2)  how many posts have been declared redundant by each of her Department's Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999; and what the cost of those redundancies has been.

James Brokenshire: Information on compulsory redundancies is held on employees rather than the number of posts made redundant within the Department.
	Between 1998-99 and 2010-11, there were no compulsory redundancies in the Home Office and its agencies.
	In 2011-12, there were 27 compulsory redundancies in the Home Department and its Executive agencies and in 2012-13 (to 30 November 2012), there have been 23.
	In 2012-13 (to 30 November 2012), the Home Department has been charged the following amounts in relation to compulsory redundancies:
	(i) £136,906.30 for the Home Department; and
	(ii) £406,698.14 for the Executive agencies.
	The costs for redundancies in 2011-12 have fallen to be accounted in 2012-13 and therefore the above figures cover the cost of compulsory redundancies for both years.
	Information on the number of compulsory redundancies in the non-departmental public bodies could be made available only at disproportionate cost.

Redundancy Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total amount of redundancy pay paid to civil servants in her Department was in each month from July to December 2012.

James Brokenshire: The amounts of redundancy pay, paid to civil servants in the Home Office in the months July to December 2012 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Table A 
			  £ 
			 July 26,279.290 
			 August 0 
			 September 60,044.45 
			 October 126,079.75 
			 November 0 
			 December 79,717.59

Temporary Employment

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what amount her Department spent on interim staff as defined by the National Audit Office in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has spent the following amounts on contingent labour and agency staff as published in the Home Office Report and Accounts:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2010-11 34.7 
			 2011-12 21.4

Temporary Employment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many temporary staff have been recruited in her Department in each month from July to December 2012.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office, including its Executive agencies, recruited a total of 361 temporary staff during the period July to December 2012 as follows:
	
		
			 Table 1: Home Office Group and its Executive agencies (CRB, IPS and UKBA) 
			  Number 
			 July 129 
			 August 34 
			 September 49 
			 October 75 
			 November 14 
			 December 60

UK Border Agency

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 248W, on UK Border Agency, what steps she plans to take to monitor (a) the quality of asylum claims interviews and (b) the quality of decision-making in respect of asylum claims made by women; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The information is as follows:
	(a) The UK Border Agency continues to audit 10% of all first instance asylum interviews and decisions against a detailed quality assurance framework drawn up and agreed with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. In the 12-month period to November 2012, 1,402 cases were sampled, and average quality scores were:
	Interview: 91.5%, decision: 89.7%. The quality benchmark is considered to be 90%.
	A new quality assurance process is being developed to re-design the agency’s existing framework, providing a more detailed analysis of quality and expanding the scope to measure success at each stage of the end-to-end asylum system, looking at the critical elements of the process.
	(b) The existing quality assurance process is essentially the same for male and female applicants; however, the gender of the applicant in each audit is recorded, and the criteria for assessment includes how the interviewer and decision maker handled gender-related issues. The agency’s monthly analysis of figures does not currently include a breakdown of claims by gender but a thematic review of asylum claims based on or featuring gender-related persecution and gender issues was completed in June 2011, and this highlighted areas for improvement which are being addressed.

UK Border Agency

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice she has given to the UK Border Agency on dealing with representations by hon. Members on reviewing decisions on visit visa applications in cases when the usual appeals process is not appropriate due to time constraints.

Mark Harper: UK Border Agency officials will consider representations from hon. Members outside the normal appeal procedures due to time constraints where exceptional, compassionate circumstances are involved, such as the serious illness or the death of a close family member. Further evidence will be requested from the applicant and the application reviewed on that basis. If there is enough strong evidence presented, the refusal may be overturned and entry clearance issued.

UK Border Agency

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the estimated cost to the public purse was of ultimately successful appeals against UK Border Agency decisions in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012 to date;
	(2)  what the total number of appeals made against UK Border Agency decisions for asylum cases was in the latest period for which figures are available; what the total number of successful appeals was; and what the total cost to the public purse was;
	(3)  what the average cost to the public purse is of an appeal against a UK Border Agency decision.

Mark Harper: Regarding the question(s) of cost:
	Appeals are managed by the UK Border Agency (the Agency). Information about the agency's overall litigation expenditure is contained in its annual Resource Accounts. However, the agency does not record litigation expenditure in the format which would enable it to answer the questions posed and to do so would incur disproportionate costs.
	Regarding the question of appeals numbers/statistics for the latest period:
	The latest published figures show that in Q3 2012 (July to September), the total number of appeal applications made is 1,920 and the total number of appeals allowed is 521.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of appeal applications and determinations. These are available in Table as.14 (annual) and Table as.14.q (quarterly) of asylum excel tables volume four of the quarterly Immigration Statistics. The latest release Immigration Statistics July to September 2012 is available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-tabs-q3-2012

UK Border Agency

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what proportion of cases referred to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) were processed on time according to UKBA's targets in each year since the agency's creation;
	(2)  what the UK Border Agency's target for the amount of time to process an average individual case is;
	(3)  what the average amount of time that the UK Border Agency takes to process an average individual case is.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency publishes extensive information on its performance as part of its commitment to transparency. This includes information on the proportion of cases processed in time, average processing times and service standards.
	This information has been published for the last two financial years and is updated on a quarterly or annual basis depending on the publication.
	The transparency publications include information on asylum, migration and international case loads; they can be found here:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/our-performance

UK Border Agency

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the performance of the UK Border Agency in processing its caseload.

Mark Harper: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), gave her most recent assessment in oral evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 18 December 2012 (HC 563-ii).

Young Offenders

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people of each age group up to 18 years in each region of the UK have been (a) arrested and (b) charged with a crime in the last 12 months.

Jeremy Browne: holding answer 7 January 2013
	Arrests data for England and Wales are collected by the Home Office and published on an annual basis in the National Statistics series ‘Police Powers and Procedures’. Available data currently relate to 2010-11 for the age groups ‘Under 10 years’ and ‘10 to 17 years’ and are included in table A.06 of the latest internet-only release, which is available via:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/police-powers-procedures-201011
	Data for 2011-12 are scheduled to be published in spring 2013.
	The Ministry of Justice has advised that data on persons charged are not collected centrally.

JUSTICE

Chief Coroner

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many staff are employed in the office of the newly-appointed Chief Coroner;
	(2)  what the budget is of the office of the Chief Coroner.

Helen Grant: There are currently three staff employed in the Chief Coroner's office, although the Judicial Office is in the process of recruiting additional members of staff. The budget of the office for 2013-14 is £1.2 million, which includes the Chief Coroner's salary and coroner training budget.

Chief Coroner

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Chief Coroner will make an annual report to the Lord Chancellor under section 36 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009; and if this report will be laid before Parliament.

Helen Grant: The Chief Coroner will make an annual report to the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chancellor will lay a copy of the report before Parliament as required under section 36 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. They will fulfil these duties once section 36 of the 2009 Act has been brought into force.

Civil Justice Council

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in which areas he expects the Civil Justice Council to make savings in the financial year 2012-13.

Helen Grant: The Civil Justice Council (CJC) will deliver two types of savings on expenditure in 2012-13: staff salaries and other expenditure.
	In relation to staff salaries, the CJC has employed two full-time members of staff during 2012-13—an assistant secretary and a finance and project manager. The post of secretary to the CJC was merged during this financial year with firstly the post of secretary to the Family Justice Council and latterly the post of private secretary to the Master of the Rolls. In addition, the post of communications manager for the CJC/FJC has not been filled. These decisions have undoubtedly generated savings, although the precise sums are hard to quantify given the shared nature of the roles.
	With regard to other expenditure, the CJC was allocated £54,140 in 2012-13. It is anticipated that £40,640 will be spent organising various conferences, an independent review of court forms and leaflets to assist self-represented litigants, research into the impact of court fees on litigants, and a public legal education initiative in the current financial year. £13,500 that could not be used before 1 April 2013 has been surrendered to the Ministry of Justice.

Courts: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employees of magistrates and Crown courts in Lancashire 
	(1)  were made redundant in each of the last two years;
	(2)  were (a) on permanent contracts, (b) on fixed-term contracts and (c) employed by an agency on 30 September (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.

Helen Grant: No employees of magistrates or Crown courts in Lancashire have been made compulsorily redundant in the last two calendar years (2011 and to 30 November 2012). Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) records indicate that two employees have left HMCTS under the voluntary redundancy scheme.
	The number of permanent and fixed-term contract and agency employees of magistrates and Crown courts in Lancashire for the requested years are as follows:
	
		
			 Headcount 
			  At 30 September 2011 At 30 September 2012 
			 Permanent staff 331 301 
			 Fixed term staff 6 0 
			 Agency workers 3 11

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the First Report from the draft Communications Data Bill Joint Committee and the inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press by the right hon. Lord Justice Leveson, what his policy is on bringing into force sections 77 and 78 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

Helen Grant: Section 77 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 creates a power to alter the penalty (which can include a custodial sentence) for the unlawful obtaining of personal data, which is an offence under section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998. Section 78 of the 2008 Act creates a new defence for journalistic, literary or artistic purposes.
	These provisions were introduced by Government amendment to the then Bill but custodial penalties were not introduced nor the new defence commenced by the previous Government after the Bill received Royal Assent.
	Following the report of the Joint Committee and the inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press, the Government is giving careful consideration to the question of whether these provisions should now be introduced given the potential consequences in particular for the conduct of responsible investigative journalism in the public interest.

Dangerous Dogs

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward measures to improve compensation arrangements for victims of dog attacks.

Helen Grant: There are several routes of redress open to victims of dog attacks. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 included a provision which places a positive duty on the courts to consider ordering compensation in all cases where an offender is convicted of a dangerous dog offence that injures or causes loss or damage to a victim. This provision came into force on 3 December 2012. The victim can also pursue civil damages.
	Under the recently reformed Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, victims of dog attacks may continue to claim compensation where a dog was set upon them intentionally to cause injury. Cases where a dog is not kept under proper control and causes injury to a person do not fall within the core purpose of the scheme, which is to compensate direct victims of crimes of violence.

Employment Tribunals Service

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what evidential basis he used in developing his proposals on employment tribunal users as announced in July 2012.

Helen Grant: A broad evidence base was used to develop the proposals to introduce fees into employment tribunals, including: previous Government consultations, independent research, responses to the consultation on a fee-charging regime, national surveys of tribunal users, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service annual reports and information published by the Office of National Statistics. The impact assessment and equality impact assessment published with the consultation response provide full details of the evidence base used and they are available on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link:
	https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/et-fee-charging-regime-cp22-2011

Family Proceedings

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will reform the family court system to reduce the extent to which women participating in proceedings feel vulnerable and exposed.

Helen Grant: The Government already has a number of provisions in place to help women who feel vulnerable or exposed in family proceedings.
	The Revised Private Law Programme for proceedings under the Children Act 1989 requires the court to identify risks or allegations of harm at an early stage in residence and contact proceedings so that it can consider what action is required to safeguard the affected parties.
	Under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996, a party can apply for a non-molestation order to deter someone from causing or threatening violence or molestation to the applicant or to any children.
	Within the courts themselves, special measures such as separate secure waiting rooms, video links and facilities to screen witnesses from the accused are available to support vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses.

Human Trafficking

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) nationality and (b) gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in November 2012; in which local authority area each of the suspected victims was initially found; and which agency referred each case to the scheme.

Helen Grant: In November 2012, there were 58 referrals to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by the Salvation Army. Details are provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Nationality Gender Region Referring agency 
			 Afghan Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Pakistani Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Pakistani Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Slovakian Male South East NGO 
			 Slovakian Male South East NGO 
			 Slovakian Male South East NGO 
			 Albanian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Albanian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Cameroon Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Vietnamese Male South East Legal Representative 
			 Albanian Female North West NGO 
			 Ethiopian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Czech Female North West Police 
			 Nigerian Female North West UKBA 
			 Nigerian Female North West UKBA 
			 Hungarian Female North West Police 
			 Romanian Female South East Police 
			 Nigerian Female Not known Self Referral 
			 British Male Not known Probation 
			 Lithuanian Female North West Police 
			 Chinese Female South East Self Referral 
			 Polish Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Slovakian Female South East Police 
			 Jamaican Female North East UKBA 
			 Vietnamese Male South East Social Services 
			 Gambian Female North West UKBA 
			 Vietnamese Male North West NGO 
			 Vietnamese Male South East Legal Representative 
			 Nigerian Female South East UKBA 
			 Czech Male North East NGO 
			 Albanian Female South East NHS 
			 Albanian Female South East NGO 
			 Eritrean Female West Midlands UKBA 
			 Kenyan Female Not known Legal Representative 
			 Ethiopian Female North West UKBA 
			 Sierra Leone Female South East NGO 
			 Romanian Female North West NGO 
		
	
	
		
			 Albanian Female North West UKBA 
			 Vietnamese Male South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female South East UKBA 
			 Slovakian Male South East NGO 
			 Slovakian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Albanian Female South East Local Authority 
			 Romanian Female South East NGO 
			 Gambian Female South East UKBA 
			 Romanian Male South East Police 
			 Lithuanian Female South East Other 
			 Romanian Male South West Police 
			 Nigerian Male Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Nigerian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Albanian Female West Midlands UKBA 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female South East Local Authority 
			 Chinese Female South East NGO 
			 Albanian Female South East UKBA 
			 Albanian Female South East NGO 
			 Vietnamese Female South UKBA

Judicial Review

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 22WS, on judicial review, by what method he has estimated the effect on (a) GDP and (b) other macro-economic indicators of (i) applications for permission to apply for judicial review, (ii) permissions to proceed to determination by the court and (iii) judicial reviews granted in cases related to planning or infrastructure proposals; what these estimates were; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The public engagement exercise “Judicial Review: proposals for reform”, published on 13 December 2012, contained proposals designed to strike the right balance between maintaining access to justice and the rule of law and reducing burdens on public services. The document was accompanied by an impact assessment covering the main possible effects of the proposals.

Landlords: Prosecutions

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the number of prosecutions of private sector landlords for breaches of category one and two regulations.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice has not undertaken any assessment of the number of prosecutions of private sector landlords arising from the presence of category one and two hazards under the Housing Act 2004.
	The presence of category one and category two hazards is not an offence that can be prosecuted unless there is subsequently a failure to:
	comply with an improvement notice (section 30);
	comply with a prohibition order (section 32); or
	allow action to be taken on the premises (section 35).

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many foreign national prisoners have remained in custody beyond their earliest release date in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many foreign national prisoners were in custody beyond their earliest release date in the most recent period for which figures are available; and for what length of time in each case.

Mark Harper: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	The following table provides a snapshot, for each April from 2010 to 2012, of the number of foreign national offenders detained beyond the end of their sentence in both prisons and immigration removal centres. Please note that data prior to 2010 are not considered sufficiently reliable to provide. Please note that individuals may appear in the figures for more than one month.
	
		
			 Number 
			 As at April each year: Foreign national offenders detained in prisons beyond the end of their sentence Foreign national offenders detained in immigration removal centres beyond the end of their sentence 
			 2010 701 1,213 
			 2011 516 945 
			 2012 552 812 
		
	
	In September 2012, 547 foreign national offenders were detained by the UK Border Agency in prisons following completion of their custodial sentence. A further 919 foreign national offenders were detained beyond the end of their sentence in immigration removal centres.
	To provide details of the length of time each individual had been detained would incur a disproportionate cost.
	Please note that we have been unable to provide the data in respect of the earliest release date and have therefore interpreted the question as asking how many FNOs subject to deportation proceeding have remained in custody beyond their actual release date.
	Additionally it should be noted that the Prison Service run a number of immigration removal centres on behalf of the UK Border Agency.

Victims' Commissioner and Chief Coroner

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  when does he intend the Victims Commissioner to begin his role;
	(2)  where the offices of the Victims Commissioner will be;
	(3)  how many staff are employed in the office of the Victims Commissioner;
	(4)  what the budget will be for the office of the Victims Commissioner;
	(5)  whether his Department intends to review the role of the (a) Victims Commissioner and (b) Chief Coroner.

Helen Grant: We expect the new Victims' Commissioner to take up her post in January 2013.
	The offices of the Victims' Commissioner will be located in Ashley House, Westminster, which is part of the Ministry of Justice estate. We anticipate that two full-time members of staff will be employed in the office of the Victims' Commissioner. The budget for the office of the Victims' Commissioner will be approximately £250,000 per year, including staff costs.
	Once the new Victims' Commissioner has taken up her role, the Ministry of Justice will consider any changes to the scope of the post, if necessary, in consultation with the new Victims' Commissioner. The Ministry of Justice does not intend to review the role of the Chief Coroner.

Written Questions

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many answers to Parliamentary Questions his Department has referred hon. Members to somewhere they would be able to find the information for themselves in the latest period for which figures are available.

Helen Grant: The Ministers in the Department answered 6,437 Commons written PQs during the 2010 to 2012 session. It would only be possible to determine in how many answers hon. Members were referred to somewhere they would be able to find the information by manually checking each answer. This would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Youth Justice

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to upgrade the youth courts system.

Helen Grant: The Government is committed to maintaining a distinct youth justice system, reflecting the separate needs of children and young people. To this end, the efficiency and effectiveness of the youth courts system is kept under review.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Advantage West Midlands: Assets

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 23 May 2011, Official Report, column 466W, on Advantage West Midlands: assets, what assets previously owned by Advantage West Midlands have been sold; how much has been raised for the Exchequer as a result of such sales; and what assets the Department still plans to sell.

Mark Prisk: A list of the assets disposed of by the Homes and Communities Agency since August/September 2011, and details of the associated receipts, have been placed in the Library of the House. The sale proceeds of land and property assets (“inventory”) sold by Advantage West Midlands in the financial year 2011/12 can be determined from their audited annual report and accounts 2011-12 as £4.43 million.
	The Homes and Communities Agency has published its disposal and development plan at:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/our-work/land_development_and_disposal_plan.pdf
	The long term strategy is to get all former Regional Development Agency owned sites in the best possible condition for disposal, by reinvesting receipts. These assets were bought by the national tax-payer and therefore it is right that ultimately the receipts are used nationally. This programme uses the Local Stewardship Model which recycles money to improve sites to create local benefits. This means that receipts will be spent on meeting the legal commitments that we have inherited from the former Regional Development Agencies. In total, the current estimate of commitments is equivalent to £310.3 million (in the hon. Member's own locality, the cost of the former Advantage West Midlands' commitments is an estimated £40.2 million).

Affordable Housing: Suffolk

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much affordable housing has been built in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (b) Suffolk in each of the last five years.

Mark Prisk: Information about affordable housing by constituency is not held centrally. Statistics on additional affordable housing provided in each local authority area are published in the Department's live tables 1006, 1007 and 1008, which are available at the following link.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply
	These figures include both newly built housing, which accounts for around 85% of additional affordable housing over the last five years, and acquisitions from the private sector.

Environmental Impact Assessment

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if his Department will take steps to streamline the environmental impact assessment process.

Nicholas Boles: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement of 6 December 2012, Official Report, column 71-72WS.

Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of staff in his Department have received training in equality and diversity and the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, within the last three years.

Brandon Lewis: This information is not centrally held. I would note that DCLG offers an e-learning package which is accessible to all staff.
	More detail on the Department's equality objectives can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dclg-equality-objectives-2012-to-2016

Fire Services

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the ability of fire and rescue services to maintain services if further spending reductions are made.

Brandon Lewis: All fire and rescue authorities in England are required by the Fire and Rescue National Framework to have in place and maintain an Integrated Risk Management Plan, which identifies local need and sets out plans to tackle effectively both existing and potential risks to communities. The Integrated Risk Management Plan, which is subject to consultation with the local community, enables each fire and rescue authority to tailor the allocation of its resources to local circumstances—evaluating where risk is greatest and determining its policies and standards for prevention and intervention accordingly.
	As a front line service, fire and rescue authorities have been protected by back loading formula grant reductions into years three and four of the current spending review period to provide them with the necessary time to make the changes necessary to meet the reductions without impacting on the quality of services provided to their communities.
	As I outlined in my written ministerial statement of 17 December 2012, Official Report, columns 69-70WS, there is significant scope for fire and rescue authorities to make sensible savings, such as through reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement; shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management; sharing of senior staff, locally led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.

Fracking

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will consider further ways of safeguarding (a) landscape character and (b) visual amenity in the planning process for fracking rig installation.

Nicholas Boles: The National Planning Policy Framework already expects the planning system to protect and enhance valued landscapes and, where appropriate, that landscape character assessments are prepared to inform the preparation of local plans. Minerals plans are also expected to set out environmental criteria so as to ensure that permitted operations do not have an unacceptable adverse impact on the natural or historic environment, which may include visual intrusion. Mineral planning authorities must also decide if an environmental impact assessment is required to inform consideration of individual proposals, in which case the assessment will set out the impact on the local environment and possible mitigation measures.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to item 37 of his Department's document, 50 Ways to Save: Examples of Sensible Saving in Local Government, what he meant by (a) sock puppet and (b) fake charity; and which local authorities have entered into arrangements with such organisations.

Brandon Lewis: As 50 Ways to Save explains, the footnote source referenced is the Institute of Economic Affairs' Discussion Paper, “Sock puppets: How the government lobbies itself and why”, June 2012, This can be found online, and it includes definitions of such arrangements and case studies.
	www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/sock-puppets-how-the-government-lobbies-itself-and-why
	50 Ways to Save also references the Taxpayers' Alliance research paper, “Taxpayer funded lobbying and political campaigning”, which includes further examples.
	www.taxpayersalliance.com/tflpc.pdf
	To assist the hon. Member in his visualisation of a sock puppet, I would observe that DCLG Ministers in the last Administration authorised £38,200 of taxpayers' money to bankroll lobbyists, LLM Communications; in turn, LLM then ran the supposedly independent 'Campaign for More and Better Homes' which campaigned in favour of the last Administration's Regional Spatial Strategies, and issued press releases praising the (then) Government's policies and attacking the Government's critics.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will obtain a reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, who wrote to him on 19 October 2012 with regard to Joyce Lyons, and whose letter he referred to the Planning Inspectorate, who have not responded.

Nicholas Boles: The Planning Inspectorate replied on 14 November.

Social Rented Housing

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to ensure that the collection and collation by local authorities of lettings data in respect of the allocation of social housing is (a) properly undertaken and (b) accurate; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: Local authorities are required to provide data on social and affordable rent lettings as part of the Department's single data list. We are committed to ensuring that local authorities fully participate. All authorities are monitored on an ongoing basis for provision, completeness and accuracy of data. We will continue to monitor and intervene where necessary.
	We are open to representations on what further steps can be taken to assist scrutiny and transparency in this area.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what advice he has received regarding the compatibility of EU Directive 2009/28/EC with the introduction of minimum separation distances between wind turbines and dwellings by local authorities through supplementary planning guidance.

Nicholas Boles: The EU Directive 2009/28/EC does not make any reference to minimum separation distances between wind turbines and dwellings.

HEALTH

Arthritis

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 384W, on arthritis, what assessment his Department has made of data collection for people with (a) ankylosing spondylitis, (b) psoriatic arthritis and (c) rheumatoid arthritis attending rheumatology departments.

Norman Lamb: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 384W. Information for both out-patient attendances and in-patient episodes is available from the NHS Information Centre's Hospital Episode Statistics collection at the level of the four-digit codes of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Information is therefore available for ankylosing spondylitis (M45), psoriatic arthritis (M07) and rheumatoid arthritis (M05, M06), subject to the limitation that information on primary diagnosis of out-patient attendances is not mandatory and is available only for a proportion of cases.

Carers

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on the identification of carers in each of the last three years; and how much it has (a) budgeted and (b) spent in 2012-13 on such activities.

Norman Lamb: The Carers Strategy “Recognised, valued and supported: Next steps for the Carers Strategy” made a commitment that the Department will provide additional resources for training health care professionals, to increase their awareness and understanding of carers’ needs for support.
	To take forward this commitment, the Department has provided central programme funding over the last three years, as follows:
	£69,095 in 2009-10 to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to pilot training workshops for GPs to help them better to understand carers’ needs;
	£96,003 in 2010-11 to the RCGP to deliver further workshops on carer awareness training for GPs and practice staff; and
	£850,000 in 2011-12 to the RCGP, Carers UK and the Carers Trust to develop a range of initiatives to increase awareness and understanding of carers’ health needs in primary care.
	The Department has budgeted up to £1 million for projects in 2012-13 building upon previous years’ work. Bids have been received from five organisations and are being considered, with a view to making payment shortly.

Carers

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the NHS Commissioning Board plans to take to satisfy (a) itself and (b) his Department that funding allocated for carers support and breaks is being spent for that purpose; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The NHS Outcomes Framework 2012-13 includes overarching indicators to enhance the health-related quality of life for carers, with a complementary indicator in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework; and to capture how well the national health service is supporting people with long-term conditions and their carers, to live as normal a life as possible.
	These indicators are reflected in the recently published mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board, which contains a clear objective on enhancing the quality of life of people with long-term conditions and their carers, to ensure the NHS becomes dramatically better at involving patients and their carers. Achieving this objective will mean that by 2015, the 5 million carers looking after friends and family members will routinely have access to information and advice about the support available—including respite care. As set out in the mandate to the board, the Government expects the principle of ensuring equal access for equal need to be at the heart of the board’s approach to allocating budgets.
	From 2013-14, the allocation of resources to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will be a matter for the NHS Commissioning Board. It will be for CCGs with health and wellbeing boards to ensure appropriate investment for carers support and breaks, in the new system. It is for each health and wellbeing board to determine its local priorities, including how it should support carers through the contributions made by local authority and NHS partners.

Childbirth

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of brain-cooling treatments for newborn babies starved of oxygen during birth;
	(2)  how many newborn babies have experienced oxygen starvation during birth in the last 30 years; and what the long-term effects were in each such case;
	(3)  which NHS trusts have facilities for brain-cooling treatment for newborn babies who have been starved of oxygen.

Daniel Poulter: Information on the national health service trusts that have facilities for brain-cooling treatment for newborn babies who have been starved of oxygen is not collected centrally by the Department.
	The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) has a UK TOBY Cooling Register of cooled babies, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, which has information on the number of centres offering therapeutic hypothermia for neonatal encephalopathy, medical intervention to reduce brain damage, and improve an infant's chance for a normal survival. The register provides clinical guidance in order to promote uniform practice, to avoid inappropriate treatment and to foster continuing collaboration in future studies of neuroprotection following asphyxia. The register is available at:
	www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/tobyregister
	From 1 January 2013 registration of cooled infants in the UK will transfer to Badger.Net (Clevermed).
	The UK TOBY Cooling Register did not show a significant reduction in the combined rates of death and severe disability with cooling, as compared with no cooling, but did show a significant improvement in several secondary neurologic outcomes among survivors.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued interventional procedures guidance on the use of therapeutic hypothermia with intracorporeal temperature monitoring for hypoxic perinatal brain injury in May 2010. The guidance assesses the efficacy and safety of interventional procedures, with the aim of protecting patients and helping clinicians, health care organisations and the NHS to introduce procedures appropriately.
	The guidance is available at:
	http://publications.nice.org.uk/therapeutic-hypothermia-with-intracorporeal-temperature-monitoring-for-hypoxic-perinatal-brain-ipg347
	Information on how many newborn babies have experienced oxygen starvation during birth in the last 30 years; and what the long-term effects were in each such case is not available as the ICD-10 codes used to classify conditions do not identify "oxygen starvation" in its classification system.

Conditions of Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of staff in his Department requested (a) part-time, (b) job-share or (c) other flexible working arrangements in each of the last five years; and how many such requests were granted.

Daniel Poulter: The proportion of staff working part-time for the Department has been made available on the Office for National Statistics website at:
	Civil Service Statistics 2011 and 2012:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/index.html? pageSize=50&sortBy=none&sortDirection=none&new query=%22civil+service+statistics%22
	Civil Service Statistics 2008-10:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110426084705/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=2899&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422
	The Department does not centrally collect data on the proportion of staff job-sharing.
	The Department encourages staff to work flexibly through providing opportunities such as part-time working, job sharing, term time only working, working from home and the use of flexitime. These flexible working arrangements within the Department are subject to local managers' discretion and therefore are not recorded centrally so the actual numbers of staff working flexibly is not available. However, it is likely to be a large proportion of the work force that work flexibly.

Drugs: Prisons

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his policy is on the role of abstinence in drug treatment courses in prisons;
	(2)  how many prisoners in each prison undertook drug treatment courses, by type of treatment, in each of the last three years;
	(3)  what the cost was of providing integrated drug treatment systems to each (a) primary care trust and (b) prison (i) in total and (ii) by prisoner in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13 to date.

Norman Lamb: The Government is committed to rehabilitating prisoners with a drug dependency to live drug-free lives whenever possible. Current clinical guidance on whether to offer abstinence (detoxification) drug treatment is based on an individual need assessment and sentence length.
	Recently updated clinical guidance states that, where a prisoner receives a sentence longer than six months, abstinence should be the treatment objective. Unless there are clinical reasons to the contrary, drug dependent prisoners spending any significant period in custody will be stabilised, safely detoxified and released into the community drug-free.
	For remand and short sentence prisoners, it is good clinical practice to either continue the treatment the prisoner had before arrest, or prepare them for the treatment they will receive on release and for opiate users, maintenance prescribing is often the most appropriate treatment. For this group of prisoners the priority is to ensure continuity of care and reduce the risk of drug related death on release.
	Data is collected centrally by the National Offender Management Service on the total number of drug treatment courses provided nationally. Information for the last three years for which data is available is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Drug treatment courses provided in prisons in England between 2009 and 2011: Total, maintenance prescribing; and detoxification (abstinence) treatments 
			  Total Total maintenance prescriptions Total detoxification treatments 
			 2009-10 60,067 23,744 36,323 
			 2010-11 61,109 30,650 30,459 
			 2011-12 64,916 33,198 31,718 
			 Source: National Offender Management Service 
		
	
	Caveats apply to the data. Firstly, the data show the number of treatments, not the number of prisoners receiving treatment and an individual could receive more than one treatment in the course of a year. Secondly, this data only records the clinical intervention that prisoners received when they first entered custody. It does not record those prisoners who start on a maintenance prescription and later received detoxification treatment.
	Data on the provision of integrated drug treatment systems to each primary care trust and prison, by total cost and by cost per prisoner for 2011-12 and 2012-13 has been placed in the Library.

Health: Screening

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people have taken the NHS health check since its creation;
	(2)  how many new cases of diabetes have been detected through the NHS Health Check.

Anna Soubry: The number of eligible people between 40 and 74 who have had a NHS Health Check from April 2011 has been published on the Department's website at:
	http://transparency.dh.gov.uk/?p=20297
	These data show that 1,703,085 people have received a NHS Health Check since April 2011. Prior to this, there were no comprehensive central data collections in place to measure the number of NHS Health Checks received by eligible 40 to 74-year-olds. The number of cases of previously undetected diabetes found through the programme is not held centrally.

Hospitals: Food

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce guidelines to hospitals on the use of gluctose-fructose syrup in meals served to patients.

Daniel Poulter: The Department will not be introducing specific guidelines to hospitals on the use of glucose-fructose syrup in meals served to patients.
	The Department's 'Improving Hospital Food' project highlights eight fundamental principles that patients should expect from hospital food. One of the principles is that Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) should be adopted where practical and supported by procurement practices. These standards address sustainability, animal welfare and nutrition; including reducing sugar content.
	GBSF were launched in June 2011 and are mandatory for central Government Departments and are promoted to the wider public sector, including the national heath service.

Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of girls aged 12 to 17 years have received the HPV vaccination in England and Wales through the NHS in the latest period for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: The latest period for which published figures are available is the 2010-11 academic year, published by the Department in the report ‘Annual HPV vaccine coverage in England in 2010/2011’ a copy of which has already been placed in the Library. HPV vaccine uptake for the 2010-11 academic year taken from the report is shown in the following table. The Department is not responsible for monitoring HPV vaccine uptake in Wales.
	
		
			 HPV vaccine coverage (three-dose course) of all routine and catch-up cohorts as at September 2011 (1) 
			 Cohorts Vaccine coverage (%) 
			 Born Age in years in academic year 2010-11 Number in cohorts At least one dose At least two doses All three doses 
			 2010-11 estimates      
			 (1 September 1997 to 31 August1998) 12 to 13 297,392 88.9 87.5 84.2 
			 (1 September 1996 to 31 August1997) 13 to 14 304,747 85.9 84.1 80.9 
			 (1 September 1995 to 31 August 1996) 14 to 15 304,062 89.4 87.7 84.4 
			 (1 September 1994 to 31 August 1995) 15 to 16 306,007 81.9 79.6 75.7 
		
	
	
		
			 (1 September 1993 to 31 August1994) 16 to 17 310,595 78.4 75.8 70.8 
			 (1 September 1992 to 31 August1993) 17 to 18 319,065 59.8 55.9 48.1 
			 (1 September 1991 to 31 August1990) 18 to 19 323,826 55.6 50.3 38.9 
			 (1 September 1990 to 31 August1991) 19 to 20 328,004 66.1 59.3 47.4 
			 (1 September 1990 to 31 August1998) 12 to 20 2,493,698 75.4 72.1 65.8 
			 (1) Estimates have been updated (where possible) to include mop up vaccinations of eligible females that had not received the full course of vaccinations.

Influenza: Vaccination

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England and Wales have been issued with the influenza vaccine in the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Information on the number of people in England who received influenza vaccine from their general practitioners in 2007-08 - 2011-12 as part of the national health service annual influenza immunisation programme is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Influenza season/year Number of people in England vaccinated 
			 2007-08 7,911,879 
			 2008-09 8,284,935 
			 2009-10 8,300,213 
			 2010-11 9,046,742 
			 2011-12 9,677,663 
		
	
	Information about influenza immunisation in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.

Meningitis

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to promote preventative (a) clinical work and (b) medication for meningitis; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The United Kingdom routine immunisation programme provides vaccinations against causes of meningitis including: meningococcal C, many pneumococcal and Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria as well as mumps virus. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation—the independent experts that advise the Government on immunisation—is also conducting an evaluation of the impact and cost-effectiveness of possible meningococcal B vaccination strategies as a vaccine against meningococcal B bacteria is likely to be authorised.
	The Department publishes leaflets and other material as appropriate on MenC and other vaccinations; these are available to general practice surgeries, health care centres and other settings, where immunisations are being given (for example in schools). The need for additional publicity, for example seasonal campaigns or campaigns targeted at raising awareness among specific groups is kept under review so that additional action of this kind can be taken if there is any evidence, such as a. fall in uptake levels, to suggest this would be beneficial in protecting public health.
	The uptake rates of all of the childhood immunisations recorded at ages one, two and five years increased in 2011-12 compared with the previous year, and are some of the highest up take levels on record.
	The Health Protection Agency updated its ‘Guidance for public health management of meningococcal disease in the UK’ in March 2012. This recommends that chemoprophylaxis should be offered to close contacts of cases, irrespective of vaccination status, subject to certain criteria. A copy has already been placed in the Library, and the full guidance is available at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1194947389261

Mental Health Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the NHS Commissioning Board plans to take to ensure continuity and sustained roll out of the (a) adult and (b) children and young people improving access to talking therapy programmes; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The NHS Commissioning Board will take responsibility for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme (IAPT) from 1 April 2013. The Department's mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board and the NHS Outcomes Framework will ensure the sustainability of both the Adult, and Children and Young People's IAPT programme.

Mental Health Services: Training

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2012, Official Report, column 634W, on mental health services, how many trainees were funded in each year for each modality of therapy; what the planned number of trainees was in each year; and how many trainees will be funded in each modality from 2012-13 to 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The original training target for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme was to train 3,600 new cognitive behavioural therapists to expand the psychological therapy work force in the first three years of the programme, 2008-11. The IAPT programme achieved this target with a total of 3,868 trainees entering training in the academic years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	‘Talking Therapies—a four-year plan of action’, published in 2011, committed the programme to train a further 2,400 new therapists during the academic years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14.
	The following table shows the number of trainees in each modality of therapy for each academic year:
	
		
			 Number 
			 Therapy 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 201 2-13 Total 
			 Step 2 Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (low intensity) 510 727 517 536 459 2,749 
			 Step 3 Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (high intensity) 487 1,004 623 291 322 2,727 
			 Counselling for Depression 0 0 64 68 132 264 
			 Couples Therapy for Depression 0 0 44 (1)69 (1)99 212 
			 Brief Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy 0 0 63 27 58 148 
			 Interpersonal Psychotherapy 0 0 86 82 155 323 
			 Total 997 1,731 1,397 1,073 1,225 6,423 
			 (1) Includes trainees undertaking National Institute for Clinical Excellence approved Behavioural Couples Therapy.

Norovirus

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of norovirus were recorded by his Department in (a) England and (b) Birmingham in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: The information requested is in the following tables:
	
		
			 Number of laboratory reports of norovirus recorded in England since 2010 
			  Number 
			 2010 11,311 
			 2011 8,335 
			 2012(1) 9,645 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of laboratory reports of norovirus recorded in Birmingham since 2010 
			  Number 
			 2010 248 
			 2011 176 
			 2012(1) 221 
			 (1) Provisional data. Data for 2012 are not yet complete. Source: Health Protection Agency 
		
	
	Not all individuals with norovirus will present to health services and laboratory reports represent only a small fraction of the true number of cases of norovirus each year, therefore the data in the tables do not represent the true burden of norovirus infections.

Respiratory System

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he proposes that there will be an individual responsible for the strategic overview of improvements in outcomes for respiratory patients in the reformed NHS.

Anna Soubry: The NHS Commissioning Board is currently advertising the post of National Clinical Director (NCD) for Respiratory Diseases as one of a number of senior clinical appointments. The NCD will take the clinical lead in driving improvement in quality across all relevant domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework for respiratory diseases.

Social Services

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the NHS of reductions in funding for local authorities to provide adult social care; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: In the last spending review, we protected social care in the context of a tough settlement for local government by providing an extra £7.2 billion. Independent research from the King's Fund supported our view that this was enough for councils to maintain services, provided they focused on efficiency.
	In addition, the Care and Support White Paper announced that the national health service would transfer an extra £100 million in 2013-14 and £200 million in 2014-15 for adult social care. The NHS and local authorities will work together to decide how to use this money so that it benefits both health and social care and promotes integrated working.

Staff

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in his Department earning over £50,000 per year have been employed (a) as special advisers and (b) in a political role in each year since 2010; and how many were employed in the latest period for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: Details of all special advisers including salaries are published quarterly in arrears and are available on the Cabinet Office website. The latest data up to 19 October 2012 can be found here:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/special-adviser-data-releases
	The Department has employed no other staff in a political role other than the documented special advisers.

DEFENCE

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day his Department had not provided a substantive written answer by the day named in each of the last 12 months.

Mark Francois: holding answer 13 December 2012
	The Ministry of Defence strives to answer all parliamentary questions on time, but it is often challenging to answer substantively within the limited timescale for named day questions. However, 83% of named day questions for answer between 1 December 2011 and 30 November 2012 were answered on or within five days of the day named.
	The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Month Number of named day questions received Number not receiving a substantive written answer on the day named Percentage not answered on the day named 
			 2011    
			 December 73 42 58 
			     
			 2012    
			 January 128 78 61 
			 February 95 55 58 
			 March 105 73 70 
			 April 98 53 54 
			 May 61 37 61 
			 June 83 47 57 
			 July 100 78 78 
			 September 68 55 80 
			 October 77 57 74 
			 November 126 100 79 
			 Total 1,014 675 67 
		
	
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current Session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website at the following link:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

EDUCATION

Early Intervention Grant

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2012, Official Report, columns 44-5W, on local government finance and the oral answer to the hon. Members for Mid Dorset and North Poole and Feltham and Heston, of 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 5, on early intervention, from which funding source will the shortfall in funding for early intervention be provided; and which activities will be funded (a) centrally and (b) by local authorities.

David Laws: holding answer 13 November 2012
	The Early Intervention Grant (EIG) was established in April 2011 to give local authorities the freedom to make decisions on how best to target resources on supporting early intervention and other valuable services to meet the needs of their communities. Following the transfer of the EIG into the new Business Rates Retention system of local government finance, local authorities will retain this flexibility to make the most effective and most efficient use of funding available.

Education Capital Review

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when his Department will publish the consultation responses to the Independent Capital Review.

David Laws: We are still considering some of the recommendations in the Capital Review across Government, taking time to consider the implications carefully before implementing any changes to the capital funding system. We intend to issue an update in the early part of 2013 and plan to publish the consultation report at the same time.

Schools: Inspections

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which schools judged to be inadequate at their last inspection are being (a) closed and (b) converted to academies.

David Laws: holding answer 7 January 2013
	As of November 2012, four schools judged to be inadequate at their last inspection have been proposed for closure: St Mary’s Church of England Junior School, Slade Green Junior School, Sydney Smith School and St Catherine’s Catholic High School. A decision will be reached once the required statutory process has concluded. 132 schools judged to be inadequate are becoming academies. A full list of these schools will be placed in the House Libraries.

Special Educational Needs

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what progress his Department has made in drafting a definition of independent special schools for the purposes of the Children and Families Bill;
	(2)  if he will include provision for independent special schools in the Children and Families Bill in order that children with complex needs are able to access such specialist support in their area.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 20 December 2012
	I refer the hon. Member to the response I made to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) on 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 98W.

University Technical Colleges

Sam Gyimah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria his Department uses to decide whether to approve the creation of a university technical college in a particular area.

Matthew Hancock: In assessing University Technical College applications, the Department uses the criteria published in the 'How to Apply' guidance. This covers the education vision and plan, evidence of demand for the UTC, the capacity and capability of the applicant group, and the financial viability of the UTC. Applicant groups also inform the Department about their site proposals but these are not part of the assessed criteria.
	The guidance for the current competitive application round is available on the Department's website and can be found at
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/h/utcs%20%20%20how%20to%20apply%20guidance.pdf

Young People: Databases

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to (a) ensure that academies and free schools co-operate with local authorities to support the participation of people aged 16 and 17 following the raising of the participation age and (b) provide the relevant data for the national client caseload information system.

David Laws: The Education Act 2011 places a duty on schools to secure access to independent and impartial careers guidance on the full range of 16-18 education and training options. The model funding agreements used when setting up academies and free schools make them subject to this duty. The Government announced recently that it plans to extend this duty to years 8-13 in schools from September 2013. We trust the head teachers of academies and free schools to focus on the best interests of their pupils, including supporting them to progress into suitable education or training at age 16 and 17.
	Under the 2008 Education and Skills Act, educational institutions (including academies and free schools funded by the Education Funding Agency), are required to provide relevant information about pupils to local authority support services. Educational institutions will also be required to inform their local authority if a 16 or 17-year-old drops out of education or training when the participation age is raised so that they can be supported back into learning by the local authority.
	It is for local authorities to agree with academies and free schools how data should be provided to ensure that they have accurate information about the participation of young people in their area. Local authorities record this on their local client caseload information system database. Information from local databases is then used to update the national system, from which headline data on participation by local area is made available on the Department's website.

Young People: Unemployment

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 year-olds are not in full-time education or training in each local education authority area in England and Wales.

David Laws: The following table shows the number and proportion of 16, 17 and 18-year-olds not in full-time education or training in each local authority area in England. Information about the education of young people in Wales can be obtained from the Welsh Assembly Government.
	This information has been drawn from records maintained by local authorities in England, who have responsibility for tracking young people's participation in education and training. The number of young people not in full-time education or training includes some whose current activity is not known to the local authority as well as those who are known to be in employment or taking a gap year.
	
		
			 Number  and proportion of 16, 17 and 18-year- olds not in full-time education or training ,  December 2011 
			  Age 16 Age 17 Age 18 
			  Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 England 47,720 8 98,280 16 216,750 36 
			        
			 South East       
			 Bracknell Forest 90 7 240 19 470 39 
			 Brighton and Hove 170 7 400 16 1,220 (1)50 
			 Buckinghamshire 310 5 600 10 1,430 25 
			 East Sussex 480 9 1,060 (1)19 2,810 (1)51 
			 Hampshire 1,240 9 4,470 (1)31 7,510 (1)51 
			 Isle of Wight 120 8 280 18 650 (1)42 
			 Kent 1,290 8 3,040 17 7,020 40 
			 Medway 440 13 700 19 910 24 
			 Milton Keynes 240 8 370 12 1,030 35 
			 Oxfordshire 570 9 1,660 (1)26 3,270 (1)51 
			 Portsmouth 180 9 350 17 970 (1)46 
			 Reading 130 9 310 20 580 40 
			 Slough 130 8 250 15 410 (1)27 
			 Southampton 180 8 450 20 1,180 (1)48 
			 Surrey 580 6 1,330 13 4,850 (1)49 
			 West Berkshire 150 9 300 18 650 38 
			 West Sussex 550 7 1,230 14 2,900 36 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 140 12 170 13 390 (1)32 
			 Wokingham 110 6 210 12 540 (1)33 
			        
			 London       
			 Barking and Dagenham 230 9 450 (1)17 800 (1)31 
			 Barnet 300 9 390 11 1,460 (1)46 
			 Bexley 120 4 470 (1)16 820 (1)28 
			 Brent 180 6 240 7 390 11 
			 Bromley 890 (1)27 1,000 (1)27 1,360 (1)38 
		
	
	
		
			 Camden 190 14 280 (1)19 310 (1)24 
			 City of London 260 (1)97 10 6 20 11 
			 Croydon 1,260 (1)31 1,290 (1)30 1,670 (1)40 
			 Ealing 160 5 240 7 560 17 
			 Enfield 270 7 530 13 1,130 (1)29 
			 Greenwich 220 9 370 13 820 (1)27 
			 Hackney 260 12 430 (1)18 530 (1)23 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 90 9 120 10 180 15 
			 Haringey 660 (1)28 620 (1)25 1,400 (1)53 
			 Harrow 70 3 120 5 340 14 
			 Havering 150 5 480 16 1,090 (1)37 
			 Hillingdon 140 5 280 9 530 18 
			 Hounslow 150 7 230 9 440 17 
			 Islington 240 (1)16 350 (1)20 450 (1)27 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 110 (1)22 170 (1)25 210 (1)31 
			 Kingston 170 (1)12 180 12 410 (1)27 
			 Lambeth 170 8 480 (1)20 760 (1)30 
			 Lewisham 330 (1)13 530 (1)17 1,810 (1)52 
			 Merton 300 (1)17 390 (1)21 580 (1)30 
			 Newham 190 5 560 15 1,300 (1)32 
			 Redbridge 120 4 220 6 580 17 
			 Richmond 310 (1)30 350 (1)30 440 (1)36 
			 Southwark 220 9 630 (1)24 700 (1)31 
			 Sutton 280 (1)13 310 (1)13 730 (1)35 
			 Tower Hamlets 170 7 270 11 670 (1)28 
			 Waltham Forest 340 12 690 (1)22 1,110 (1)35 
			 Wandsworth 200 (1)13 330 (1)20 480 (1)28 
			 Westminster 140 13 270 (1)23 270 (1)25 
			        
			 East o f England       
			 Bedford Borough 110 6 210 12 430 24 
			 Cambridgeshire 480 7 830 12 2,100 32 
			 Central Bedfordshire 220 8 490 17 870 (1)32 
			 Essex 1,670 10 4,200 (1)25 11,100 (1)66 
			 Hertfordshire 730 6 1,760 13 4,370 34 
			 Luton 140 6 300 12 640 28 
			 Norfolk 920 10 2,110 22 4,260 (1)47 
			 Peterborough 200 9 360 15 820 36 
			 Southend 140 7 240 11 780 (1)36 
			 Suffolk 660 8 1,480 18 3,450 (1)42 
			 Thurrock 130 7 380 20 920 (1)46 
			        
			 South West       
			 Bath and NE Somerset 100 6 230 13 600 (1)34 
			 Bournemouth 130 8 260 15 520 30 
			 Bristol 360 9 740 18 1,610 (1)40 
			 Cornwall and IoS 330 6 780 13 1,990 32 
			 Devon 640 8 1,330 16 3,000 37 
			 Dorset 360 8 730 16 1,680 38 
			 Gloucestershire 560 9 1,250 18 2,930 (1)44 
			 North Somerset 110 5 240 11 620 28 
			 Plymouth 220 8 460 15 1,030 34 
			 Poole 150 10 310 19 670 40 
			 Somerset 320 6 530 9 820 14 
			 South Gloucestershire 210 7 410 13 980 (1)31 
			 Swindon 220 8 500 19 1,030 (1)39 
			 Torbay 110 7 200 12 470 30 
			 Wiltshire 510 10 990 19 2,570 (1)52 
			        
			 West Midlands       
			 Birmingham 830 7 1,580 12 4,760 (1)35 
			 Coventry 210 6 600 15 1,560 (1)40 
		
	
	
		
			 Dudley 250 7 440 11 1,260 (1)34 
			 Herefordshire 170 9 360 18 890 (1)46 
			 Sandwell 250 6 470 12 1,170 (1)30 
			 Shropshire 260 8 510 16 1,050 35 
			 Solihull 140 6 370 14 910 34 
			 Staffordshire 580 6 1,460 15 3,360 (1)35 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 250 9 520 18 1,170 (1)38 
			 Telford and Wrekin 200 10 590 (1)28 1,380 (1)65 
			 Walsall 230 7 560 17 970 (1)28 
			 Warwickshire 380 6 950 15 3,530 (1)58 
			 Wolverhampton 260 9 500 15 980 (1)31 
			 Worcestershire 410 7 850 14 1,860 (1)31 
			        
			 East Midlands       
			 Derby City 290 10 600 20 1,310 (1)42 
			 Derbyshire 810 9 1,610 18 3,630 (1)40 
			 Leicester City 280 7 670 16 1,300 (1)32 
			 Leicestershire County 490 6 960 13 2,430 (1)32 
			 Lincolnshire 920 10 1,700 (1)19 6,050 (1)67 
			 Northamptonshire 620 8 1,250 16 2,690 (1)35 
			 Nottingham 250 8 450 13 890 (1)26 
			 Nottinghamshire 580 7 1,270 14 2,430 27 
			 Rutland 60 (1)17 40 12 330 (1)93 
			        
			 Yorks  a nd Humber       
			 Barnsley 200 7 360 13 780 (1)27 
			 Bradford 500 8 930 14 1,450 22 
			 Calderdale 210 8 330 13 730 (1)28 
			 Doncaster 300 8 580 15 1,320 34 
			 East Riding       
			 Kingston upon Hull 290 9 630 19 1,500 (1)42 
			 Kirklees 400 8 780 15 1,640 (1)31 
			 Leeds 660 9 1,360 17 3,170 (1)38 
			 North East Lincolnshire 130 6 310 13 640 28 
			 North Lincolnshire 110 5 310 14 810 (1)36 
			 North Yorkshire 480 8 890 14 2,340 (1)35 
			 Rotherham 240 7 550 16 1,090 33 
			 Sheffield 460 8 1,030 18 2,210 (1)37 
			 Wakefield 410 10 680 16 1,430 34 
			 York 130 7 240 12 450 24 
			        
			 North West 6,330 8 13,330 16 26,300 (1)30 
			 Blackburn-Darwen 200 10 280 14 540 (1)27 
			 Blackpool 180 10 270 14 560 (1)29 
			 Bolton 270 8 960 (1)26 1,520 (1)42 
			 Bury 180 8 310 13 810 (1)33 
			 Cheshire East 270 7 690 16 1,370 (1)33 
			 Cheshire W and Chester 270 7 580 15 1,170 (1)31 
			 Cumbria 470 8 830 14 1,880 32 
			 Halton 110 7 260 16 610 39 
			 Knowsley 150 7 340 16 720 35 
			 Lancashire 1,120 8 2,340 16 4,450 (1)31 
			 Liverpool 430 8 910 17 1,930 35 
			 Manchester 380 8 740 14 1,040 19 
			 Oldham 240 8 540 18 810 26 
			 Rochdale 190 8 360 12 490 18 
			 Salford 250 10 370 14 590 22 
			 Sefton 180 6 400 13 1,010 30 
			 St. Helens 120 6 250 13 630 31 
			 Stockport 270 8 560 16 1,050 (1)32 
			 Tameside 230 8 400 14 660 22 
			 Trafford 150 6 320 12 760 (1)28 
		
	
	
		
			 Warrington 120 5 280 11 670 27 
			 Wigan 270 7 680 17 1,860 (1)47 
			 Wirral 300 8 670 16 1,200 29 
			        
			 North East       
			 County Durham 520 9 1,570 (1)26 2,990 (1)47 
			 Darlington 130 11 240 19 500 38 
			 Gateshead 170 8 390 18 780 (1)35 
			 Hartlepool 80 6 160 12 390 31 
			 Middlesbrough 160 9 350 19 810 (1)42 
			 Newcastle 320 11 610 20 1,130 (1)35 
			 North Tyneside 140 6 220 10 590 (1)24 
			 Northumberland 230 6 560 15 1,100 29 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 170 10 390 21 780 (1)43 
			 South Tyneside 110 6 310 17 710 (1)35 
			 Stockton on Tees 190 8 410 17 860 34 
			 Sunderland 230 7 460 13 970 27 
			 (1) Areas where the current activity of more than 10 of 16, 17 or 18-year-olds is not known. The proportion not in full-time education or training may be understated in these areas. Notes: 1. The ages stated in the table are young people’s academic age; ie their age on 1 September. 2. East Riding has not provided the Department with information on the activity of 16, 17 and 18-year-olds.